Swiftly Burning Ice: The Demon Saga Part I
by Frozen Phoenix
Summary: An unseen evil haunting Ruki's dreams brings forth a spiral of loss, vengeance and destruction to her and the rest of the Tamers. But can the return of their partners bring the salvation that's so desperately needed? *RUKATO*
1. Starting So Simple

A/N: Two stories at the same time? Wow I'm really on a roll. I hope Ruki fans aren't too offended by the beginning of my story and that anti-Rukato fans know that the 6th movie is said to contain some Rukato. We're not out of the running yet! This story has some spoilers, but nothing truly mind-boggling. I hope that I kept everyone in character and that you enjoy my story. Since this is my first true Rukato, I can finally say, "RUKATO para siempre!" (RUKATO forever!)

**_Disclaimer:_**_ Digimon is the property of Toei Animation and Bandai_

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Swiftly Burning Ice

By Frozen Phoenix

She was alone. She could see ice, surrounding her, practically enveloping her in its frozen grip and nothing else. _Where the heck am I?_ Makino Ruki wondered with confusion. A sudden crunch caused her to turn to her left. Nothing. _This is just great. Where is everybody? Where's Renamon? _

Ruki could feel the icy cold sinking into her. "Renamon!" She called loudly. Only silence greeted her. _Wherever I am, I'm alone and I'm freezing. Can things get any worse? _She wondered in annoyance. 

_Crack._

Ruki turned around again. Unlike most people she wasn't scared, she was actually beginning to get angry. "Why don't you just come out, instead of playing stupid games with me." She called out loudly.

Still nothing. _This is ridiculous. _She began walking. She didn't know where she was going; she was just trying to get out of the cold. No such luck. Everywhere she looked, there was ice. Ruki could only slightly make out jagged peaks and smaller hills amid the grayish black sky. 

Ruki shivered violently as a freezing wind gusted around her. She tried to unsuccessfully remain standing, but the wind seemingly increased its force, diving her into the ground. _I'm not going to die._ She thought furiously. _I refuse to die like this. _

Ruki gritted her teeth and closed her eyes as the wind pushed down upon her. She tried forcing her legs to stand, but was unable to do so. Her whole body ached and her eyes were burning. But she still refused to admit defeat. She tried to lift her quickly freezing body one more time, and an inch of the ground, collapsed once again. _So this is really how it's going to_ _end._ She thought, no longer able to speak. 

Ruki tried in vain to picture the faces of her mother and her grandmother in her mind and was surprised to think of another. A cheerful, familiar face with red hair and ridiculous yellow goggles perched on the top of his head. _Takato…_

Ruki's entire body was frozen, from her feet up to her head. Her skin was as white as the ice that surrounded her and her lips were a pale blue. Her eyes began closing as her body finally surrendered to the still, cold death…

~*~

"Ruki, RUKI!" A familiar voiced called loudly.

Ruki's eyes snapped open as she jerked up from her bed. She looked around the room wildly trying to comprehend how she had gotten there. It was all a dream? But it seemed so…real. She could practically feel the icicles surrounding her. 

She shivered for a minute, and then stopped as she heard footsteps approaching her room. Groaning inwardly, she pushed back her blankets and climbed out of her sleeping roll. The door to her bedroom opened and her grandmother Seiko Hata walked in.

"You better hurry up Ruki." She said regarding her granddaughter. "Breakfast is on the table and the last thing you want to be is late for school, especially on your first day back."

"No kidding." Ruki said sarcastically. 

Seiko raised an eyebrow. Usually Ruki saved her sarcasm for her mother and the day had barely begun. "You might want to try showing a bit more respect Ruki, I'm only the messenger here." 

Ruki sighed loudly. "I'm sorry Grandma, I didn't really sleep that well last night." 

Her grandmother looked at her sympathetically. "You miss Renamon don't you. She was truly a _kitsune_. She swore, on her life to protect you and she never once broke that vow." 

Ruki nodded. "She was…incredible." But to Ruki incredible wasn't the right word to describe her partner. They had been through so much, overcome several obstacles, all for what? For Ruki to beg Viximon not to leave her after the final battle with D-Reaper? It had seemed like a crock to Ruki then and it still did now. 

Her intuitive Grandmother noticed the sadness in Ruki and sighed. "You'd better get going. Your mother has already left, surprisingly early." She smiled. I'll be downstairs if you need me." Seiko turned and left the room, closing the door behind her. 

Ruki stood by her bed a minute, her thoughts on Renamon, rather than her nightmare. _I wonder what she's doing right now? Is she training to become even stronger?_ She felt her stomach clench and tried to ignore it. _Will I ever see her again?_

~*~ 

School sucks. Ruki thought as she walked home that afternoon. The day had been a waste and she was grateful that it was over. Most of her teachers in the school had congratulated her, while most of the girls whispered about her as she had passed. She'd heard one of them say something like "…saw her on the computer. She was completely naked, can you believe it?" 

The girl's friends began to laugh, but stopped quickly when they saw Ruki behind their gossiping friend. The girl turned to Ruki, a mocking look in her eye. 

The look vanished when she saw the constrained fury on Ruki's face. "If you have something to say, why don't you try saying it to my face, instead of my back." She snarled at her. The girl nodded and Ruki brushed by her roughly and continued down the hallway. 

The rest of the day had been no better. She had been ignored by her classmates during lunch and still heard muffled whispers that stopped when she came near. But she refused to let it bother her. In the long run none of her classmates really mattered. All she was trying to do was get out the school as quickly as possible.

When school ended, as if by instinct, Ruki had been drawn back to the place that she had shared several meetings with Renamon. She looked upward, into a tall tree and could perfectly picture her standing on one of its branches. 

She remembered when she gave Renamon an energy drink, to give her a little boost. _But it had been more than that. I wanted to show her that I cared about her. And now she's gone._

~*~

School was over for the day and Matsuda Takato couldn't have been happier. After D-Reaper had been destroyed, he was happy to have things go back to normal. Well about as happy as a boy who lost his best friend could have been. He walked through the park that had been the place where he and Guilmon were forced to say good-bye. 

_Guilmon. I'd be going to you hideout right now to see you and you'd almost knock me over trying to get to your Guilmon bread. Takato smiled slightly. And Terriermon would ask how Guilmon could still walk after eating so much, Lee would scold him and Terriermon would say "Moumantai ." Ruki would probably roll her eyes and ask what she was doing "with a bunch of idiots". And Renamon would appear suddenly from the shadows, giving all of us except Ruki, the surprise of our lives._

Those were the times. Now everyone, himself included, was really busy. The Tamers had missed much of their schoolwork while in the Digital World and Takato had been spending most of his time catching up on it. 

He'd barely seen the other Tamers at all, except for Hirokazu, Kenta and Juri, who were in his class. He did see Henry once in a while, but almost never saw Ryo or Ruki. _I guess that we all have been busy lately. I just wish that we weren't all so spread apart._

Takato continued walking through the park and stopped in surprise when he saw someone familiar. Ruki. She was standing in the grass, staring silently at nothing. _She looks really upset. _He hesitated to go to her. _But maybe I can help cheer her up._ Takato slowly began to walk over to Ruki. 

"Hey, Ruki." He said trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

Ruki looked at him and rolled her eyes. "What do you want, goggle-head?" 

Takato was surprised by her reaction. "N-nothing, you were all by yourself and I just wanted to say hi." 

Ruki turned away from him. "Well you just did." She said coldly.

"Ruki, is something wrong? You look…sad today."

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm fine. Besides it's really none of your business, Takato." 

_Something is really wrong._ Takato thought as he walked in front of her. "What do you mean "none of my business?" We're friends, of course it's my business." 

"Listen Takato, I'm sure Juri could use your best friend or buddy stuff right now, but I don't need it." She said stubbornly. 

"Juri? What does this have to do with Juri?" Takato asked in confusion.

"Gee, those goggles must have really cut off the circulation to your brain Takato." Ruki said with disgust.

Takato was slightly angry. "Why don't you just tell me what you're talking about?" 

Ruki made a sound of derision. "I have more important things to do right now. I have to go." She began walking away from Takato, until he caught her arm. She stared at him for a moment as her anger began to rise. "Let go of me, Takato." She said in a calm and dangerous voice. 

Surprise crossed his face and he immediately let go of her. But he ruined her idea of walking past him by moving in front of her again. "All I want to know is why you're being so mean. After everything we've been through together, you've changed so much, why won't you talk to me?"

"I have nothing to say to you. Why don't you go talk to Juri? I'm sure she'd be happy to share with you."

_Why does she keep bringing up Juri?_ Takato wondered. _She and Juri have gotten a lot closer after everything that's happened. But now she's acting like she's mad at her, and me too._

"Ruki, I don't understand what's wrong with you. Did Juri say something to make you upset?" 

_He just doesn't get it._ Ruki thought in exasperation. Aloud she said, "You want to what's bothering me goggle-head? Fine, I'll tell you." Renamon's not around anymore and I'm having messed up dreams that I'm alone and someone's following me. Then I end up being frozen alive somewhere that looks like it could be Ice Devimon's new hangout." She suddenly felt furious. W_hy am I even telling him this?_

Takato was stunned for a moment. I never knew that she felt like this. She's always seemed so strong, there was nothing that scared her or made her loose control. Takato stared into her wild lavender eyes and felt his heart beat a little faster. _I knew that she missed Renamon, just like I miss Guilmon. I should have tried harder to talk to her. _

"Ruki," Takato began uncertainly. "I'm sorry. I know how close you and Renamon were, I feel the same way about Guilmon. And your nightmares sound really frightening. He looked down. "After Guilmon evolved to Megidramon and we came back to the Real World, I had nightmares that Beelzebumon hadn't stopped him and he just kept destroying everything and everyone. The worst part was that I didn't even try and stop him either. I was just so angry and…"

Takato trailed off. 

Ruki listened to him speak, feeling slightly surprised. She never would have guessed that Takato still blamed himself over what had happened. _Then again, turning your Digimon into a monster with acid drool and the power to almost destroy the Digital World isn't something that's easily forgotten. _They'd almost lost Takato that day, in more ways than one. 

"But it doesn't matter what nightmares you're having Ruki, because you're not alone." Takato said vehemently. "Your mom, grandma, the rest of the Tamers and I are all here for you. And I know that Renamon, Guilmon and the other Digimon will come back to us someday and that they would say the same thing. Well, in Guilmon and Culumon's case, something like that." 

Ruki listened to him and remained silent, thinking of what Takato had said. _He always does this. Just when I think I have him figured out, he goes and does something to surprise me. But that wasn't always a good thing. One minute he's telling me I look nice and the next he's hugging Juri. And why shouldn't he? He did save her life and they are friends. Why shouldn't they be together?_ That was it. She'd had enough. 

"You're not going to start crying are you goggle-head Really, what kind of a Tamer are you?" Ruki said sharply changing the subject. 

Takato's eyes widened and he smiled faintly. "Just call me the Digimon King." He said jokingly.

Ruki's eyes narrowed. "Not unless you have a death wish. Mr. Perfect said the same thing to me and I told him to shove it." 0_(A/N: Ryo actually said that if Ruki was the Digimon Queen, then that made him the Digimon King. Ruki then told him to be quiet. It happened in either episode 50 or 51) _

"Speaking of Ryo, have you seen him lately?" Takato asked looking uncomfortable. "I mean you two seemed to know each other pretty well and-"

"Let's get one thing straight Takato." Ruki said coldly. "I don't know Ryo that well, we were in a card tournament two years ago and he beat me. A year later, I was better and ready to pay him back and he never showed. End of story." 

Takato exhaled a breath that he hadn't known he was holding. Ruki stared at him and continued. "But I don't see why that really matters. Aren't you too busy with Juri to be caring about how well I know Ryo?" The last part was said with bitterness.

Takato stepped closer to her. "Ruki," He began, "Juri and I have been friends for a long time and I really liked her. But then she said that she only wanted to be friends. Well, it was actually her puppet that said it, but I got the point." 

_I guess I was wrong about them._ Ruki thought feeling a strange relief. But that feeling was later replaced with stubbornness. _Why should I care? It's not I like him like that or something. Me like Takato? The idea is so ridiculous that I don't even believe it. _

Feeling angry with herself, Ruki began to walk away from Takato. "It's late and my Mom is probably having a fit right now. I better get going.

Takato watched her closely_. Maybe I should tell her how I feel, but what if she doesn't like me like that? She said that she'd beat me up if I mentioned that dream to anyone, what if she still feels that way about me?_ But Takato remembered the times that they had been together in the Digital World. _When Ruki was Sakuyamon, she asked if I was okay and when I almost missed the Ark she smiled and gave me a ride. Doesn't that mean anything? I've always admired her; there aren't many people that are as strong as she is. She usually never gets as emotional as I do, but when Viximon left, she was crying just like me, just like all of us._

Takato stepped forward. "Ruki…" 

Ruki turned to him. "What is it?" She asked crossly.

"I just wanted to say that-um…" Takato stammered. 

Ruki was beginning to get exasperated. "Say what? What are you trying to say Takato?" She asked warily. 

_I can't do this again._ Takato thought desolately. "Nothing." He sighed. "Forget it." 

Ruki walked closer to Takato until she was directly in front of him. _If he won't tell me what he's feeling, then I'll find out how I feel once and for all. _Feeling as though she were moved by strange force she leaned forward and closed her eyes.

_Is she going to…_Takato closed his eyes well and felt their lips meet. 

It was brief, as were they in their innocence and youth. But their kiss would be an event that they would always remember. 

One minute they were standing and the next they were…Ruki pulled away from Takato and ashamedly felt herself blush. Takato was wide eyed and looked away. 

They stood in silence, both Tamers shocked by what had occurred. 

Ruki glanced at Takato. "So what were you going to say to me goggle-head?" She finally asked. 

And Takato smiled…


	2. Friendly Dis-Intervention

A/N: I almost wasn't going to continue this story, having absolutely no idea where to go from the ending of my last chapter, but while seething over my inability to see episode 49, and the amazing chapter updates from Digidestined of Courage and Flamegaruru, I was inspired. 

**Beelzebumon:** And here I was thinkin' that the whole torture that Ichijouji kid story that you wrote on Sunday had brought it on. 

Erm…well I didn't really torture him, per say. 

**Beelzebumon:** So putting him in the desert and forcing him into a mental breakdown ain't torture?

…This is why I don't have permanent muses. Oh well, I hope that I've kept everyone in character and that you enjoy my story! Rukato para siempre! (Forever) 

**_Disclaimer:_**_ Digimon is the property of Toei Animation and of Bandai_

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Chapter 1: Friendly Dis-Intervention

The night was pleasant; the warm wind blew with warm breath hinting of summer and vacation. The air was comfortable and in decorated bedroom located within Tokyo's West Shinjuku district, a young boy named Matsuda Takato smiled while lying within his bed. 

The day itself had started out normal enough. He had woken up early for school and eaten his breakfast like he usually did. The school day had been nothing special either. With all the school he had missed while the Tamers had been in the Digital World on their mission to retrieve Culumon, he had missed quite a bit of his schoolwork. 

~*~

"You'd think that we'd get some kind of break!" Shiota Hirokazu had complained when they were eating lunch that day. "I mean, how many other kids can say that they saved, not just Japan, but the world from a computer program gone psycho?" 

Katou Juri had smiled and held up her puppet-covered hand. "But if we didn't have homework, rowf, it wouldn't be fair to the other children, rowf, rowf!" She made her puppet say.

Kitagawa Kenta frowned. "That's just what my dad said. But he also added in a bunch of stuff about setting an 'example' for other kids too." 

Takato opened his mouth to speak, but was suddenly interrupted. 

Hirokazu raised one of his hands to his head. "An example?" He moaned. "Oh man, how much worse can things get?" 

Lee Jenrya lowered the book that he had been reading and looked at Hirokazu skeptically. "I think you're making a bigger deal out of things than they are. We may have a lot of work to do, but it isn't really that hard, if you put your mind to it." 

"That's easy for you to say, you're a regular genius." Hirokazu retorted. 

"Uh, guys-" Takato began.

"It has nothing to do with being a genius. I'm just saying that you're overreacting." 

"Guys-"

Juri glanced over at Takato and noticed the frustrated expression on his face. Her brown eyes narrowed slightly as her face became determined. 

"Me, overreact? No way!" Hirokazu continued.

"Takato wants to talk and it isn't very nice that you won't let him, rowf!" Juri's puppet interrupted.

Takato glanced at her appreciatively, causing her to smile back at him. "All wanted to say was that Jen is right. We've overcome Wild Digimon, the Devas and even D-Reaper. Compared to them, homework should be easy." 

"Takato, you've got way too much time on your hands." Hirokazu replied. A strange look crossed his face and he suddenly stood from the lunch table, pulling Kenta up with him.

"Speaking of homework, I just remembered that I have to do some math homework that was due yesterday and Kenta needs to help me, since he didn't hand it in either." 

"Yes I did-" Kenta began to protest.

"No you didn't! We'll see you guys later." Hirokazu walked away from the lunch table, practically dragging Kenta beside him. 

Juri, Jenrya and Takato watched them depart in shock. 

"Um, that was weird." Takato finally said sweatdropping. 

Jenrya grinned slightly. "When it comes to those two, I've come to expect that." 

~*~ 

So maybe things hadn't been completely normal that day, Takato thought reluctantly. But it had been what had happened when he went to the park after school when things had gotten strange. He had seen Ruki standing by a tree, alone and looking upset. 

After some hesitation, he had gone to speak to Ruki, who had seemed really angry with him, though he didn't know why. She kept bringing up Juri and telling him that he should go and speak to her. It had taken some time, but he had managed to convince her of the truth, that he and Juri were just friends. But when he had tried to tell her how he felt about her…

~*~

_Takato stepped forward. "Ruki…" _

_Ruki turned to him. "What is it?" She asked crossly._

_"I just wanted to say that-um…" Takato stammered. _

_"Say what? What are you trying to say Takato?" She asked warily. _

_I can't do this again. Takato thought desolately. "Nothing." He sighed. "Forget it." _

_Ruki walked closer to Takato until she was directly in front of him. She slowly leaned forward and closed her eyes._

_Is she going to…Takato closed his eyes well and felt their lips meet. _

_It was brief, as were they in their innocence and youth. But their kiss would be an event that they would always remember. _

One minute they were standing and the next they were…Ruki pulled away from Takato and ashamedly felt herself blush. Takato was wide eyed and looked away. 

_They stood in silence, both Tamers shocked by what had occurred. _

_Ruki glanced at Takato. "So what were you going to say to me goggle-head?" She finally asked. _

_And Takato smiled. _

~*~

Takato placed a hand against his lips, still feeling a sense of shock about what had happened. He felt happy, there was no question of that, but he also felt a sense of unreality, and wondered if he fell asleep and awakened the next day, if he would find out that everything had been nothing more than a wonderful dream. 

He didn't want it to have been a dream. Though they had parted only hours ago, Takato longed to see Ruki again, even more so than before they had kissed. 

Feeling his eyes slowly closing, Takato wondered if Ruki felt the same way, after their kiss she had been reluctant to leave the park, but a call on her cell phone from her grandmother had forced her to do so. 

He had went home a few minutes later and though his parents had been worried about him, they trusted him and when he told them that he had been at the park, they had been relieved. 

Takato smiled slightly as his consciousness began to fade. _Guilmon, I miss you so much, but now, I don't feel so alone anymore. _And with that final thought, the young Tamer slipped into slumber. 

~*~ 

Cold…so terribly cold 

From within a world of ice, Makino Ruki struggled to draw her breath. 

The ice was everywhere. All encompassing, all surrounding. Ruki felt as though she were drowning in it. 

And then there were the footsteps. They cracked the ice loudly causing Ruki to turn, only to have them vanish and reappear somewhere else. 

_Not again. _Ruki thought furiously._ Where the heck am I? _

_"Makino Ruki." _A mysterious voice whispered beside her. 

Ruki turned quickly, only to find the frozen emptiness greet her. "Whoever you are, show yourself! Or are you too afraid? Is that it?" She yelled.

No response came. 

Ruki clenched her fists tightly as a gust of frigid wind blew past her. _I've had enough of this. _She began walking, as she had many times before, searching for a way to escape. 

A loud shattering sound behind her caused Ruki to flinch but not turn. She'd had enough of these hide and seek games and wasn't going to buy into them any longer. 

_"Don't turn away from me human!"_ The strange voice suddenly shrieked, causing Ruki to cover her ears due to its high pitch. 

The shriek then lowered into an androgynous voice, satiated with malice. _"Icicle Stunner!"_ It called venomously. Ruki turned towards the sound of the voice and caught a glance of blue hair, and red eyes, as several shards of jagged ice was launched directly at her chest…

~*~ 

"No!" Ruki screamed as she awakened with a start. Her heart hammered within her chest and a cold sweat covered her body. 

The door to her bedroom flung open, as both her mother and grandmother entered it hurriedly. Makino Rumiko looked as pristine as ever, even in a simple blue bathrobe, an uncharacteristic expression of worry had crossed her beautiful face.

A look of concern crossed Hata Seiko's face as she noticed her usually unflappable granddaughter shaking slightly. 

Rumiko quickly moved to the side of Ruki's bedroll. "Ruki honey, are you all right? We heard you screaming." 

Ruki stared at her for a moment, then shook her head. "I'm fine." She snapped curtly, trying to keep her nervousness from entering her voice. 

Her mother looked stung. "But you obviously don't look fine. Do you want to talk about it? I always end up feeling better when I discuss my bad dreams with your grandmother." 

Seiko notice Ruki's demeanor bristling slightly as her daughter continued speaking. 

"I told you that I'm fine! I didn't have any dreams and I don't want to talk about anything." Ruki answered her mother coldly. 

Seiko sighed and reached fir her daughter's hand. "If Ruki doesn't want to speak, then we shouldn't force her to." 

"But-" Rumiko began to argue

"She'll talk to us when she's ready to do so." Seiko said wisely. Rumiko sighed reluctantly. "Ruki, if you need anything we'll both be downstairs, okay?" 

Ruki nodded distractedly. "Fine."

Seiko left the room drawing the reluctant Rumiko behind her. Rumiko cast a final glance at her daughter and continued out of the room. 

Ruki watched her leave with feelings of intense irritation. She knew that she had hurt her mother, and truthfully hadn't meant to do so. She just couldn't stand appearing like some weak and helpless little girl, when she knew that she was anything but. 

She made a sound of frustration. She'd been having that dream for days, but never had it been so detailed. And that voice, she couldn't place the face, but the voice had been so filled with hatred and rage. 

She clenched her fists. _I don't know what's going on, but I plan upon finding out._ She thought resolutely. Feeling more secure, Ruki pulled the blankets of her bedroll around her. _I may not have Renamon with me anymore, but no one makes me look weak or vulnerable and gets away with it._ She thought resolutely, the earlier events of the day never even entering her mind as she settled down for an uneasy sleep. 

~*~

The next morning in West Shinjuku Park, two figures stood hunched over a group of Digimon trading cards. 

"…And that's the plan." Hirokazu finished explaining to Kenta as he placed a Death Meramon card down on the ground. 

The blue haired Tamer narrowed his eyes, thinking hard as he studied his deck. As he was drawing his card he looked at Hirokazu uncertainly. "But what if he doesn't like the idea? You saw how mad he was when Beelzebumon destroyed Leomon and I just don't want him to get that mad at us." 

Hirokazu rolled his eyes. "Give me a break Kenta. We've known Takato for years, he wouldn't flip out on us like that. Besides, he'll probably be glad that we did it, since he's obviously too chicken to do it himself. 

"I wouldn't call Takato a chicken if I were you." 

"With psycho, Ultimate biker Digimon and a computer game that wanted to eat the world, you're right. But with girls…c'mon you've seen them together! All they need is for someone to make a move and get them started. And who better then the Dynamic Duel of Hirokazu and Kenta matchmakers' extraordinaire!

Kenta sweatdropped. "I just hope you're right about this." 

Hirokazu smirked. "In a few days, Juri and Takato will admit that they're madly in love and who knows, maybe we can get Jen and Ruki together too!" 

"Now I know you're crazy! If we try something like that, we won't have to worry about Takato being mad at us, Ruki will end up beating us to a pulp!" 

Hirokazu considered it. "You're probably right. But maybe we can get Ryou to help us…"

~*~

Wow things are getting interesting. I won't give the next chapter away, but I can say that my guest muses are two busy people, whose jobs give pressure a new meaning. I don't usually have muses, but now I see why many authors choose to do so, it is slightly entertaining. 


	3. Prevention Terminated

A/N: I'm sorry about the length of the chapter, but I had the Penn State Information Night to go to, which combined with homework, left me very little time to write. 

**Ryou:** Don't lie, you know you weren't planning on writing anything tonight.

Yes I was. And I had to switch the chapters as well. I had everything all planned out, but when I looked at how it was going to flow, I changed a few things. 

**Ryou:** You're worse than Ruki. Everything has to her way or its-

The only reason you're here is because having Yamaki and Reika as guest muses and in the chapter would be repetitive. But if you continue slandering Ruki, I'll take a leaf out of Flamegaruru's book and lock you in the closet.

**Ryou:** I wasn't "slandering" Ruki at all. And as for the closet, I'm the Legendary Tamer, I've dealt with far worse situations than that.

Did I mention locked in the closet, chained together with Hirokazu and Kenta and forced to hear their singing for hours on end? 

**Ryou: **…I'll be quiet. 

That's better. I hope that I've kept everyone in character and that you enjoy my story! 

**_Disclaimer:_**_ Digimon is the property of Toei Animation and of Bandai_

Prevention Terminated 

On a warm spring day in West Shinjuku, several events were occurring simultaneously. In the Elementary School, the Digimon Tamer Matsuda Takato was doodling in his notebook distractedly, as his teacher Asanuma Nami spoke about finding the perimeters of rectangles. 

As he doodled, Takato noticed that the rest of his classmates looked equally as uninterested, save his two friends Shiota Hirokazu and Kitagawa Kenta. 

They both were whispering to one another and ever so often would glance at Takato or former Tamer Katou Juri. Takato shook his head and sighed. He had no idea that Hirokazu and Kenta were planning something to make him and Juri admit their undying love for one another, but if he had any inkling of what they were plotting, he probably would have paid more attention to them. 

A few doors away, Lee Jenrya sat listening intently as his teacher discussed history and the  relevance of finding and observing the patterns that were repeated within it. 

A distance away from the Elementary school, in a rigid private academy, Tamer Makino Ruki struggled to stay awake, as her teacher continued to drone on about mammals and their common anatomy. 

She hadn't been getting much sleep lately, due to terrible nightmares about being trapped in a frozen wasteland, with someone trying to kill her. She would usually wake up in the middle of the night screaming and then take quite a bit of time to fall back asleep.  

But last night had been the last straw. She was going to find out what her nightmares meant, no matter what. 

~*~

Further away, located within the bustling hub of West Shinjuku, two large towers stood tall against the skyline. It had taken some time for the construction workers to fix the extensive damage done to the buildings after they had been ingested by D-Reaper, but to Yamaki Mitsuo, one of the head employees of the corporation Hypnos, which was housed within the building, things looked almost normal. Almost. 

Yamaki stared out one of the building's highest windows, with his dark eyes encased within his usual sunglasses and clicked the cover of his lighter open and shut with irritation. His office was lined with numerous boxes and several files full of information littered his unusually unkempt desk. 

_I still can believe that things are ending this way._ He thought with annoyance. _Things may seem quiet for the moment, but with everything I've seen those kids and their partners do, I know for a fact that we haven't seen the last of the digimon. _

But with the knowledge of Hypnos finally divulged to the public and the destruction of D-Reaper, there had been little reason, save Yamaki's suspicions, to convince the superiors of Hypnos of any possible danger. 

_And if anything does happen, I'll be the first person they try to either blame for the situation or be called in to help eliminate it._ Yamaki thought with a measure of bitterness. 

But it wouldn't be the first time. Now with the Hypnos project ending, Yamaki was left without a job, an event that hadn't happened for quite some time. But he wasn't worried about his situation. With his intelligence and background in computer programming, there was little doubt within him that he wouldn't be able to find another high power, well paying job. 

_"Just as long as the job doesn't entitle you to work with anyone even slightly normal." _Reika had said jokingly over dinner one evening. 

Yamaki smirked slightly. No matter what job he found, he still did have a way with people. He clicked the lid of his lighter closed once more, then began to proceed from his office into the hallway. Moving quickly, he descended the hall stairs and made his way into Hypnos' central office. 

The room was as large and as bare as ever, with much of the equipment already boxed and removed. The only operational items were the immense computer system that had been used to track and eliminate countless digimon and the machine in which Ootori Reika and Onodera Megumi were presently seated within. 

Despite the serious atmosphere that infiltrated the room, both women were speaking in casual tones about their new employment prospects. 

"It's funny, after everything that's happened to us at Hypnos, I feel so depressed that things are finally ending." The strawberry blonde haired Megumi spoke unhappily. 

From in front of her, Reika nodded, causing a piece of her crimson hair to fall onto her face. She brushed it away quickly and sighed. "I know what you mean. You'd think that having D-Reaper turn our computer systems into a gateway to our world would make us all the more anxious to leave."  

She typed a command on her keyboard that caused the screen to form into the grid of the overlap between the Real and Digital Worlds. Yamaki glanced at the screen, his irritation returning as he stared at its inaction. 

Reika looked upwards, and finally noticed him. "It looks as though everything is normal between both of the worlds." 

"It would seem so." Yamaki conceded. "But I have a feeling that things won't remain that way. I believe that this is what's referred to as "The calm before the-" 

A loud beeping sound interrupted him as several red dots appeared upon the once dormant computer screen. 

"We're picking up a mass amount of data rapidly converging from within the Digital World." Megumi said loudly as she began typing rapidly. 

With a feeling of slight satisfaction, Yamaki gazed at the screen. "Deploy the tracers and establish a visual lock. I want to see what's happening." 

"Tracers deployed." Reika confirmed, the relaxed tone gone from her voice. Seconds later, multiple green dots appeared on the screen, apparently following the red ones. 

"Visual lock will be established in five seconds." 

Yamaki watched the screen sharply. In a few seconds we'll see what's really going on within the Digital World. 

~*~

It stood silently, its body neither in the Digital nor in the Real World, but waiting in between. Parts of its pallid body were continuously being formed from bits of stray data. The area surrounding it lacked most color and shape, causing the creature to stand out among the green and black around it. 

As more data flowed towards it, it noticed several green devices moving closer as well. A sadistic smile lit its normally vacant face and its eyes seemed to bleed with a scarlet malice. 

_A game to play. _It thought viciously. _Interesting_. "Come to me then, come to your end." It spoke softly and extended its tattered white wings…

~*~

Within the Hypnos building, Yamaki Mitsuo was loosing his patience. After months of inaction, something had finally made contact from the Digital World, but the time needed to get a visual image of that something seemed to be crawling by. Yamaki couldn't help but be hopeful that whatever was causing the disturbance, was in fact the digimon belonging to Matsuda Takato and the rest of the Digimon Tamers. 

He hadn't needed to be there to know that the departure of the digimon had affected the children greatly and despite his earlier misguided actions, he felt that the digimon should be reunited with their human counterparts. 

Yamaki wasn't an emotional person, but the Tamers and their digimon had gone through hell and back while facing D-Reaper, and if it weren't for them, the world would have been nonexistent. 

"Visual lock established." Megumi interrupted his thoughts. 

The grid on the screen suddenly vanished as the image of a strange white creature took its place. Yamaki's eyes narrowed as the hazy image became clearer. 

The digimon, for that was what Yamaki assumed it was, was humanoid and thin. Its body was one great mesh of white, from the tips of its boots to the front of its face. Its face was ashen and a light blue mask surrounded the flaming red eyes. Blue hair stood up in spikes behind the mask, while ragged white wings extended behind it. 

Suddenly the digimon smiled and raised a hand complimented by razor sharp claws. Shards of white crystal flew from within it, destroying several tracers. 

"The tracers have been destroyed. We're losing our visual!" Reika said anxiously. 

"Then launch more!" Yamaki spat angrily. 

The image began to fade as the digimon targeted more of the tracers. 

Megumi typed the command on her keyboard. "The tracers have been launched, but the digimon keeps destroying them." 

"This is bad." Reika said darkly. "It is now trying to bio-emerge into the Real World." 

Yamaki clenched a fist in frustration. Despite everything that had happened between the digimon and the humans, this new digimon obviously had hostile intentions and could not be permitted to enter the Real World. 

"Activate Yuggoth." Yamaki said finally. "With all of the power that it has and its obvious enjoyment for causing destruction, that digimon must not enter our world."

"Yuggoth has been activated." 

The computer screen darkened as a blue light surrounded the digimon. The three Hypnos operatives waited apprehensively for the deletion program to take effect. 

~*~

It was angry. Destroying the devices had been fascinating for a time, but it had quickly grown boring. When the blue light began to surround it, the creature began to feel enraged. 

_This ends now. _It thought venomously. It quickly gathered its power together and as the light drew closer…

~*~

"Damn it!" Yamaki swore when the computer screen went black. He slammed his lighter down upon the consol, as though it could relieve some of his anger.

Megumi sighed wearily. "Deletion was unsuccessful. The digimon has bio-emerged into the Real World. 

"We'll have to wait until the system reboots before we can get a positive lock on the digimon's position." Reika added. 

"We'll know where it is as soon when it starts terrorizing Shinjuku." Yamaki responded sarcastically. "But until then, we'll have to keep a watch on things. The Tamers won't be able to do anything without their digimon, leaving the situation completely in our hands." 

~*~

It stood in the shadows, cringing as small particles of light shone on its pale skin. It had wanted to come to the Real World for a reason, but perhaps the darkness would have chosen a better cover. 

_No matter._ It didn't have the patience nor the knowledge of the passing of days in the Real World to tell day from night. It was tired of waiting, only reaching for what it desired. Now that it had finally come in its true form, it was ready. 

"Makino Ruki, " it spoke in its silent, yet dangerous voice, "Our true reckoning has finally arrived."

~*~

Okay, our villain has finally made its dramatic entrance into our story. As for the whole "it" used when mentioning the villain, I'm still not sure whether to make them male or female. Digidestined of Courage, you were halfway correct, IceDevimon does have some focus in the story, be he isn't the antagonist. And sorry if the whole Hypnos finding the digimon scene wasn't completely accurate. It's been some time since I've seen the early episodes, but I did my best. 

In the next chapter, Hirokazu and Kenta put their plan into action and Ruki learns the meaning of the words déjà vu. 


	4. Just A Little Mayhem

A/N: Another day, another chapter. **_*_**_sigh*_ With finals in less than two weeks, I feel so overwhelmed. 

**Yamaki:** You feel overwhelmed? Right now we have a sadistic digimon on the loose somewhere in Shinjuku, Hypnos is on the verge of being shut down and the Tamers' digimon are somewhere in the Digital World and of no help. And you're whining about tests?

**Reika:** Jumping on her won't make things any better Mitsuo. 

She's right. Doing so might make me stop the story right here, seeing as how I have some strange problem with getting past the third chapter of my stories. 

**Yamaki: **_(sarcastically) _Oh yes and I'm sure that your readers would be heartbroken.

You're really lucky that I like you, otherwise you'd be taking Ryou's place in the closet for that comment. 

**Reika:** Why don't you stop arguing and let her make her thank yous?" 

I just wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, Digidestined of Courage, Flamegaruru, also known as Rei, The Future Queen, daisukefire, Peter Kim, Exoduss and Hirokono. You're reviews have really helped me and I'm very grateful for them. 

**Yamaki: **Don't you have a story to write? 

So very lucky…Anyway, I hope that everyone is in character and that you enjoy this chapter. 

**_Disclaimer:_**_ Digimon is the property of Toei Animation and of Bandai_

Just A Little Mayhem 

Lunch period was usually a time for most students to run wild. The school day was half over and the students could finally eat while being left to their own devices. Most of the Elementary school students milled around outside the school searching for a place to sit and devour their lunches, while few of them remained inside the building, separate from the rest of the students. 

Jenrya sat on the warm grass beneath a tall tree, trying to balance his food in one hand and his drink in another. He  finally settled himself, placing his drink in front of him and sighed as he waited for the rest of Tamers to show up. 

_Well, two of the Tamers,_ he thought exasperatedly. He had finally sighted Hirokazu and Kenta standing close to the entrance to the school, speaking intently. 

Jenrya's eyes narrowed as he to watch continued them. He didn't know them as well as he knew Takato, but he had a feeling that something strange was going on. Their hasty departure yesterday and their odd behavior, either whispering or sneaking glances at Takato and Juri, was making him very suspicious. 

_But maybe I'm being paranoid._ Jenrya mused. _It's not as though Hirokazu and Kenta are plotting against Takato or anything. _He shook his head in dismissal. _I wish Terriermon was here. I never realized just how much I depended upon his "Momentais" to make me feel better. Although his mouth did have the uncanny habit of getting him and the rest of us into trouble. _

He remembered the time while in the Digital World, Lopmon had respectfully said his thanks to his lord, the Phoenix Sovereign Zhuqiaomon, while Terriermon had said something alone the lines of "It's been real Zhuqs." 

Suddenly, a loud sound of indignation caused Jenrya to cringe and made several classmates turn and stare at the blue and red haired Tamers. Kenta blushed, while Hirokazu put on a charming smile and waved. Jenrya rolled his eyes. _There's no way that those two could be planning anything. I'm starting to think that my missing Terriermon is making my imagination work overtime. Now would be a really good time to Momentai. _

~*~

"Did you see him staring at us today? I think he's starting to suspect something." Kenta whispered to Hirokazu tersely. 

"Who?" Hirokazu questioned distractedly 

Kenta sweatdropped. "Who do you think? Takato! Maybe we shouldn't go through with this." 

Hirokazu frowned. "Don't tell me you're backing out! After all that time it took for us to plan everything, you just wanna give up?" He asked incredulously. 

"Of course I don't want to give up! But," Kenta hesitated. "Maybe we shouldn't interfere with Takato and Juri's lives like this." 

"We're helping them!" Hirokazu exclaimed, causing numerous students to turn and stare at him and Kenta. Kenta began to blush, while Hirokazu simply smiled and waved. 

Speaking lower, Hirokazu whispered, "They're both perfect for each other and they don't even know it. We're just giving them the extra push that they need for love!" 

Kenta looked at him blankly, then blinked. "Dude, I think you've seen Sailor Moon ten too many times."

"Me? Well at least I don't sleep with a picture of Sailor Mercury under my pillow." Hirokazu retorted rolling his eyes. 

"She's pretty and we have a lot in common." Kenta replied blushing. 

Hirokazu looked unconvinced. "Uh, huh right." His gaze traveled towards the school exit door and as several students came from it, his eyes widened as he saw Juri among them, her lunch and puppet on hand. 

"Okay there's Juri. I'll go work on her and you look for Takato. If you see him, try to distract him." Hirokazu began walking away.   
  


"Distract him? What am supposed to do?" Kenta called after him.

Hirokazu grinned. "Maybe you can tell him all about you and Sailor Mercury." 

"Ha, ha, very funny." Kenta said scowling. 

~*~

Juri's eyes scanned through the crowds of students, searching for Takato. She had almost forgotten that their were so many people in the school, since most of her day was spent within one class,  but seeing everyone all together made her feel a little happier. 

She was so intent of her search that she didn't notice Hirokazu until she had practically bumped into him. "Oh, I'm sorry." She said quickly. 

"No problem." Hirokazu grinned. "Looking for Takato must be really distracting, eh?" 

His effort was rewarded when Juri began to blush a light pink. 

"There are just so many people, I wasn't sure where to sit." She answered softly trying to draw his attention from her face.   
  


"Hey, I understand. With all the stuff that's happened between you two, there's no reason 

why you shouldn't be looking for him." 

Juri looked at him with embarrassment. "Do you really think so?" She asked timidly. 

_Oh man, this is great!_ Hirokazu thought happily. Aloud he said, "Definitely. You know, after everything that's happened, I think that Takato could use a little fun in his life." 

"He was so sad when Gigimon left." Juri agreed. "But what do you think we could do?" 

Hirokazu pretended to consider things. "Well, I think he might like something in park, um maybe some kind of a party?" 

Juri smiled as an idea came to her. "A picnic would be perfect for the park! My step mom makes really great food and she could help me get everything together." 

"What a great idea!" Hirokazu said enthusiastically. "And what better day to have it then tomorrow. With no school, you guys could go really early and spend some time hanging out." 

"That sounds so nice. But we'll have to invite Jenrya, Kenta, Ruki, and Ryou too." 

For a moment, Hirokazu panicked. "Oh no, you can't do that!" He said waving his hands wildly.

Now Juri was curious. "Why not?" She asked. 

"Because, Jen's pretty busy and Ryou probably has some important stuff to do too. And Kenta and I can't go because we're both-uh…grounded and Ruki, well you know Ruki, I bet that she-um has tons of stuff to do with her mom and besides, you don't want all of us messing up your day with Takato, do you?" Hirokazu stammered nervously. 

Juri stared at him for a minute. "Hirokazu, why are you doing this?" She finally asked. 

"Honestly," Hirokazu began, "I just want Takato and you to be happy, that's all." 

"Thank you." Juri said happily. 

"Like I said, no problem. But, hey, there's Takato coming outside! You better hurry and talk to him. You can't have that much of a picnic if he isn't there." 

"You're right, yip!" Juri's puppet suddenly spoke out from atop her hand. "Juri has to go talk to Takato now, but she'll see you later, rowf!" And with that, Juri ran away from him, back towards the entrance of the school. 

Hirokazu watched her for a minute, then turned back towards Kenta. He gave his best friend a large smile. All Takato had to do was say yes and everything would be perfect. _And Ruki said we were idiots. Would idiots have been able to bring their two friends together without using an evil digimon or a crazy computer program to do it? No way! Hirokazu and Kenta, matchmakers extraordinaire is a success! Now Jen and Ruki, they might be a little trouble…_

_~*~_

_Wow, I never believed it when Hirokazu said that Ms. Asanuma had eyes in the back of her head, but now I'm starting to wonder… _Takato thought, still surprised over what had just happened. 

He would have expected Ms. Asanuma to hold him after class for not paying attention, but he didn't think that she would notice him doodling when her back was turned. All in all he considered himself lucky that she had seen fit to make him only write an essay, rather than call home to his parents. 

_If Ruki found out, she would probably laugh about it. I can stand up to evil digimon and D-Reaper with little trouble, but when it comes to my Mom, I think she's a lot scarier than Beelzebumon could ever be.  _

A small grin crossed Takato's face. He knew that he was exaggerating, but when it came down to it, he would have taken on _all _twelve of the Devas rather than have Ms. Asanuma call home and have his mother think he had become a troublemaker. 

He had been planned upon visiting Ruki that afternoon, but completing his essay about decorum and using proper manners while in class, on top of his regular homework, would probably take some time. _But there's always tomorrow._ Takato thought optimistically. 

Takato scanned the crowd outside, searching for Hirokazu or Jenrya, but immediately felt more at ease when he noticed Juri heading straight towards him. 

"Juri, hi." He said smiling. 

Juri smiled back and made her puppet "speak," "Rowf, hello Takato. Juri wants to talk to you alone now, rowf." 

"Alone? Um, okay." Takato responded slightly confused. 

"Follow me, rowf, rowf. Juri thinks it will be quieter inside." 

Takato nodded. "Sure, I guess so." 

The two Tamers made their way through the door that Takato had previously exited and stood in the empty hallway. Takato watched Juri closely, _I wonder what she wants to say._

Juri took a deep breath and removed her puppet. "Takato," She said in her normal voice. "I just wanted to ask you if you would," Her face seemed to get redder and she lowered her eyes. 

Takato felt more confused than ever. And for some reason, his face felt slightly warm as well. 

"I wanted to know if you would go on a picnic with me tomorrow." Juri finished quickly. "My stepmother would make the food and we could go to the park, but only if you want to." 

Takato felt stunned. Months ago he would have jumped and said yes to a situation like this. But now…many things had changed for him. For one thing, he really, _really_ liked Ruki. And the kiss that they had shared had only succeeded in deepening those feelings. For another, when Takato had told  Juri, the real Juri, how he had then felt about her, she had told him that she only liked him as a friend. He had rescued her from the D-Reaper, but could that have changed her feelings for him that much? 

Juri watched him seriously, awaiting his answer. 

_What am I supposed to do?_ Takato wondered uncertainly. _After everything that's happened to Juri, I don't want to hurt her feelings._ But he didn't want to hurt Ruki either. She didn't know what was happening, but that didn't make it any less wrong. 

Juri sighed sadly. "You're probably busy, I understand. Maybe next week-"

Now or never. "No," Takato interrupted, "I'm not busy." He forced himself to smile. "Going to the park tomorrow sounds really fun." 

Juri smiled again. "We'll have so much fun! Is there anything special you want my Stepmom to make?" 

Takato shook his head. "No, whatever she makes I'm sure I'll like it." 

Juri placed her puppet back on her hand. "Then Juri will see you bright and early, yip" 

"Bright and early." Takato repeated. _Ruki I'm sorry._ He had a feeling that he was going to regret this. 

~*~

Ruki Makino walked home from school much slower than usual. She prided herself upon being a sharp Tamer, always ready, always prepared for any situation, but didn't feel as though she had the energy to handle the school cafeteria staff at the moment. 

Those sleepless nights were putting her through the wringer, both mentally and physically, and she didn't like it one bit. 

As she passed Shinjuku Park, she debated stopping at the bakery and seeing Takato. She'd had so much on her mind, with the nightmares and such, she had barely given any thought to that previous evening.  

Nothing disgusted her more than those pathetic, swooning girls in her school, who practically drooled over their boyfriends. _Not that gogglehead is even my boyfriend._ She thought quickly. It was after all, only one kiss. But she couldn't deny that she had felt something very deep for Takato. Deep enough for her to be almost jealous of Juri, and surprisingly the same way he had had felt about Ryou. 

Just thinking about Mr. Perfect, Akiyama Ryou made Ruki's stomach clench. She still couldn't believe the nerve of him to refer to himself as the "Digimon King," with her as his Digimon Queen. If things hadn't been so chaotic with D-Reaper and Juri's rescue, she would have decked him for that  remark. 

But Ryou didn't matter at the moment. He was in a different city, doing who knew what at the moment and as long as he was away from her, then Ruki was happy. 

She shook her head and continued walking. As much as she would admit that she wanted to see Takato, she wanted to see her bedroll even more._ I'll see you tomorrow gogglehead. _She thought feeling resolute. 

The air suddenly took on an eerie chill and caused Ruki to shiver slightly in her light uniform. _This is beginning to get irritating. _As though sensing her thoughts, the frigid wind began to fade, but not before Ruki heard a strange voice calling her name. 

Ruki snarled slightly as things became normal once again. _First this thing is in my nightmares, now its following me home? This all feels really familiar._ A thought suddenly came to her and her eyes narrowed. _If this thing is after me, then it might go after Mom or Grandma._ She began running rapidly, despite her tired muscles. 

_If anything has happened to them, then whatever hurt them is going to deal with me._ Makino Ruki, The Digimon Queen thought fiercely as she ran home. 

~*~

From the shadows of the trees, it watched her. Its attempt at frightening her had not gone the way it had thought it would. Having no regard for humans, it assumed that she would have been fearful and afraid, but she had responded to it with anger instead. 

_Most unexpected, _it thought._ Perhaps this is what drew him to her, her strength and power combined. _It bared its rows of teeth in a sickening grimace. _She shows no fear, but when she comes before me, I shall make her die screaming. _

And with this final thought, it melded into the darkness and vanished. 

~*~

I'm sorry if this chapter was boring, but things really begin to unravel in the next chapter. And Ruki fans, don't worry, the next chapter will focus more upon her. 

Both Ruki and Takato get big surprises, neither of which are good. Jenrya gets a surprise of his own when his father receives a phone call from someone _very_ familiar and Hirokazu and Kenta's "brilliant plan" is about to have serious repercussions upon everyone involved. Chapter five-Surprise should be uploaded soon. 


	5. Surprise

A/N: Summer vacation has arrived and I couldn't be more ecstatic. With finals over, I finally have time to read some stories that I'm two, three, ahem even four, chapters behind. And with fanfiction.net back online, I can finally do so.   

**Ruki:** All right, just what do you think you're doing?

Doing? I have no-

**Ruki:** Don't play dumb with me, you know what I mean!  
About the felonious digimon stalking you? I promise, in this chapter he will be revealed.

**Ruki:** And will he actually do something? Or will he still whisper and blow hot air around? 

_*Deviously* _Oh, he will do something. But I would be more concerned about a certain gogglehead, to be precise.  

**Ruki:** Googlehead? What does this have to do with Takato? If he gets hurt, then forget the beatings that I promised Ryou, you be the one who'll end up with an up close and personal meeting with my fists. 

Sounds painful. I'll keep that in mind. I hope everyone is in character and that you enjoy this chapter. 

**Disclaimer:** Digimon is the property of Toei Animation and of Bandai 

Surprise __

_"Bottom line is, even if you see 'em coming, you're not ready for the big moments._

_No one asks for their lives to change, not really. But it does."_ -Whistler- Buffy the Vampire Slayer

In the city of West Shinjuku, the sun gleamed brightly from within a dazzling blue sky. The fluffy white clouds kept their distance and the warm air smelled of cherry blossoms and sweet life. 

From within the room that she shared with her younger brother Masahiko, Juri stared out at the area around her and smiled. _Hirokazu was right; it's such a perfect day for a picnic._ It was almost time for her to leave and Juri couldn't help but feel excited. 

_I know Takato and I will have a lot of fun today. I'm just happy that he said yes to me, he looked sad when I asked him._ Juri remembered the strange look on his face and sighed. 

We've been through so much together. He isn't one of the boys that are just obsessed with playing with digimon cards anymore. I know all of us have really grown up ever since we entered the Digital World and since…

Juri didn't finish her train of thought. When the other Tamers had been fighting D-Reaper, she had decided that she wasn't going to allow what had happened to Leomon cause her life to end. That hadn't been what he had wanted for her when he had spoken of destiny. 

And after those few months, it still hurt her to think of what had happened, and of how close she had come ending her own life. _Thank goodness for Culumon,_ she thought with a feeling of gratitude. _And for Takato, too. _

Even when things had seemed so awful, thanks to D-Reaper feeding from her pain and sadness, Takato had never once given up on her. And when she had believed that no one wanted her around because of everything that had happened, he had told her just how wrong she had been. 

_He's really changed._ Juri mused. _Even before he and Guilmon Matrix Evolved to Dukemon, when he found that note written by his mother, he told me how much he missed her and how he hated to make her worry about him. And he cried…he's done that before, like when Beelzebumon hurt Megidramon, but this time he did it only in front of me. He didn't care that I was a girl, like other boys, but only that he had someone he could tell how he felt. And that I was there to make him feel better. _

_But I hurt his feelings. He told me that he really liked me and I made my puppet say that I only liked him as a friend. But now, I'm not so sure about that anymore. He rescued me and I was just so happy to see him. I really care about him, but what if he doesn't feel that way about me anymore? _

Juri would have continued her pondering, had not the voice of her stepmother called to her. 

"Juri, everything is all packed, you'd better get moving. You don't want to miss your picnic do you?  

Juri glanced out her window one last time and took a breath. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she had a feeling that something exciting was going to happen, and whatever it was, she was ready for it. She then quickly closed her window and made her way to the kitchen.

~*~

Takato woke up early that morning with a slight feeling of dread. It was an unusual occurrence for him; he was usually a cheerful person. But this morning, he felt nervous and more than a little confused. 

He was going on a picnic with Juri, whom he thought of as only a good friend, when he really wished that he could be doing something with Ruki. But he also felt bad, because he knew that if he told that Juri, he would only end up hurting her feelings. _And I can't do that to her, _he thought stubbornly. _I know that's she's a strong person, stronger than she even believed, but still, after everything that's happened to her, I don't want to do anything to hurt our friendship. _

_But I feel so guilty, like I'm betraying Ruki. Maybe should tell her what's going on_. Takato glanced at the clock on his desk, it was early, but Ruki was usually awake. 

He climbed out of bed quickly and walked into the living room, where the phone was located. He could smell his Mom cooking breakfast in the kitchen, but didn't bother looking for his father. He had most likely went to open the bakery, where Takato's mother would join him shortly. 

Takato held the phone hesitantly for a minute, and then began to dial Ruki's phone number. It was one of the few numbers that he knew by heart. He mentally practiced what he was going to say as he waited for her to answer the phone. 

_Ruki, there's something I have to tell you. What is it? Well, I'm going on a picnic, with Juri. Alone. It all happened really quickly, with Juri asking me and all…_

A click alerted Takato and he cleared his throat. "Ruki, I-" He began.

"Hello? Who is this?" An older feminine voice answered. A voice, Takato realized, was not Ruki's at all. 

"Um, hi, this is Takato. I know it's really early, but can I speak to Ruki please?" He asked politely. 

The voice at the other end of the line became more cheerful. "Takato, it's nice to hear from you. This is Ruki's grandmother and I'm afraid that she can't speak to you right now." 

"She can't?" Takato's shoulders sagged. 

"I'm afraid not. She hasn't been sleeping very well lately and Rumiko are doing our best to make sure that she gets some rest. Maybe I can have her call you back later?" 

"That would be great." Takato said unenthusiastically. "I hope that she gets the sleep she needs." 

"So do I." Seiko agreed. "Have a nice day." 

"You too." 

They said good-bye and Takato hung up the phone feeling defeated. _I bet it's those nightmares she told me about that are bothering her._ The guilt that Takato was feeling intensified. _I should have tried to see her yesterday. If I had been paying better attention, then Ms. Asanuma wouldn't have kept me after school. And now she's suffering and there isn't anything that I can do, at least not now, to help her._

"Takato, breakfast is ready." Mrs. Matsuda called from the kitchen.   

Takato sighed and began walking. _I have a bad feeling that this day is only going to get worse. _He deeply hoped that he wasn't right. 

~*~

From a tall building, within the heart of West Shinjuku, he waited. It had taken quite some time and the elimination of four humans, for him to find the location that he had been searching for, but his hard work had finally paid off. 

He floated in the air, his tattered wings brushing spider webs and clinging to bits of dust. 

_This is where it happened,_ he thought with rage. _His data screams out to me, even from oblivion. _He concentrated and could picture IceDevimon floating within his frozen garden, his wings wrapped around Makino Ruki as he tried to convince her of his worth as her partner and of their similarities.

_Yet she rejected you, as I knew she would._ He silently raged. _You truly believed that a human child could grant you the power that you did seek. You deluded fool._

But though it had been she whom IceDevimon had captured, it had been other digimon who delivered the final blows. 

He drew its power and with a cry of "Frostbite!" caused torrents of ice to fill the room. The ice reached from the floor, and touched the tall ceiling. But the attack caused the building to shake and quiver as the digimon tried to reach through the weak barrier separating the Real World and the Digital World. 

He felt terrible pain, something he was not used to experiencing. This pain caused him to scream in ecstatic agony as numerous crystalline forms housing digimon suddenly burst from the ceiling. 

He then collapsed to the ground, his body exhausted from using so much of its energy. _It is complete once again,_ he thought triumphantly. He gazed at a large empty crystal the hung above him. _Yet it lacks one._ Shaking and stumbling, his detached dignity missing, he stood. 

"Makino Ruki, your destiny comes for you this day by white wing and frozen claw." He stated coldly before he vanished.

~*~

Ruki yawned slightly from within her family's kitchen, while holding a glass of water. It was mid afternoon and she had awakened only twenty minutes prior. She felt better than usual, and was surprised that she hadn't had any dreams of her frozen stalker last evening. 

_But then again, he did decide to pay me a personal visit yesterday._ She thought dryly. She had been so unnerved at the time that she had dashed into her home and scared her grandmother half to death. 

"How are you feeling today Ruki?" Her grandmother asked as she entered the kitchen and began rummaging for a cup of her own.

"Better." Ruki said with a slight smile. 

Seiko nodded. "I'm glad to hear it." She walked towards the refrigerator and extracted a bottle of water. "Your friend Takato called earlier, by the way. He seemed very eager to speak to you." Seiko glanced at her granddaughter to see her reaction.

Ruki remained composed, giving nothing away to her as she took a drink. "That's weird. I wonder what he wanted." 

Seiko smiled. "Yes it is quite odd for young men to call young ladies at their homes and wishing to speak to them. You could call him back perhaps, or go and visit him." She stopped speaking and seemed to consider things. "But I did hear Rumiko planning a shopping trip…" 

Ruki got the hint. "You know, it might have been important. I should get dressed and see what's going on." She stood up quickly and walked to her bedroom. 

Seiko watched her leave_. She may not wish to admit it, but perhaps there's something happening between her and that Takato… _

~*~

A normal day. Over the last few months, Lee Jenrya had almost forgotten what that had entitled. He sat in his room, staring at his computer screen, not using it, merely contemplating the past.

If it wasn't a new Wild One entering the Real World, then it was a Deva trying to destroy the Tamers or D-Reaper trying to eliminate the world. 

But with Terriermon by his side, Jenrya always knew that things would work out. Whether he was making jokes or acting silly, he always managed to make him feel better, especially when things became unbearable. 

_But now he's gone. Terriermon is gone and my father knew that it would happen,_ Jenrya thought bitterly. _I know that he feels terrible about it and he practically begged me to forgive him but…I can't help feeling that he betrayed us. _

Jenrya sighed in frustration. _I can't stand feeling this way about my dad, especially after everything that he and the rest of the Monster Makers did to help us. It just seems so unfair how things worked out. _

The phone rang, but he ignored it. _I must seem so selfish. _The house was unusually quiet, but the continuous ringing of the phone shattered that silence. Jenrya's older sister and brother had went to the library earlier to work on a project for school, while his mother take Shuichon with her shopping, leaving only Jenrya and his father home. 

Jenrya heard the sound of his father rushing to pick up the phone before the caller hung up. Not really listening, Jenrya was jarred to attention when he heard his father address the caller. 

"Yamaki?" 

Jenrya immediately stood and walked to his bedroom door. He knew that was disrespectful to eavesdrop, but ever since the D-Reaper's destruction, Yamaki hadn't remained in close contact with any of the Monster Makers. And the news of Hypnos being shut down had sparked numerous amounts of controversy throughout all of Japan. 

"I take it that this isn't a social call." Janyuu spoke after his surprise had left him. 

_"I only wish it were. Unfortunately, a problem has decided to manifest itself, and at the worst possible time."_

Worry filled Janyuu's voice as he spoke, "Don't tell me that D-Reaper has found some way to regenerate itself!"

_"No, of course not. This problem may be serious, but it isn't of that nature. It deals, in fact with a digimon." _

For a moment, Janyuu remained silent. "A digimon? You don't mean the children's-"

_"No, this digimon has incredible power and a bad attitude to go along with it. It almost crashed our computer system when we tried to use Yuggoth to delete it and based upon the frozen bodies of four construction workers found this morning, I would say that respect for human life isn't one of its priorities." _

"That's terrible! But I still don't understand why you decided to call me. Wasn't finding and deleting wild digimon the purpose of Hypnos?" Janyuu inquired neutrally. 

_"It was. But as you know, our resources have been limited due to the decision to shut it down. Reika, Megumi and I have been doing what we can to track this menace, while trying to return Shaggai to operation as well." _

"Shaggai?" 

Jenrya's eyes narrowed. _Shaggai? Whatever this digimon is, its power must be immense if Hypnos is being forced to use that program._ But despite the dark news, a small hope bloomed within him. _But if this digimon as able to enter the Real World, then maybe Terriermon and the other digimon could do so as well. _

Jenrya moved closer to the doorway, anxious to hear more. 

_"We've devised a plan that can have one of two positive results. If Shaggai is activated within close range of the digimon, then it may be able to draw its body into the created vortex, thereby deleting it and solving the problem. However, the second result is far more dangerous and even more unpredictable. There is a chance, a small chance mind you, that by using the reversal program implanted within your son's Terriermon, we may be able to home in upon him and the rest of the Tamers' digimon in the Digital World, and use Shaggai to bring them back into the Real World. Shaggai was created to track and eliminate all digital data, but since using Shaggai accidentally brought that tiger digimon into our world, then we hypothesized that it would be possible to repeat the process. But in either attempt, there are numerous factors that could lead to destruction within both worlds. _

_That is why I called you, and why I've contacted the other Monster Makers as well. This is a project that requires the finest expertise and I wouldn't count on anyone but the best."_

Though unseen by Yamaki, Janyuu nodded. "I see, if the situation wasn't so ominous, I would say that I'm flattered." 

_"Well save the flattery for later. The Monster Makers, save Shibumi, have agreed to meet at Hypnos. We need you here as soon as possible."_

"I'm leaving right now, I should be there shortly." He hung up the phone and stood silently, trying to grasp everything that he had just heard. He turned his head swiftly when he noticed Jenrya coming from his room.

"Did you hear all of that?" Janyuu asked warily. 

Jenrya nodded. "I did. I know I shouldn't have been listening but," He looked at his father seriously. "Dad, is there really a chance that the digimon could come back?" 

Janyuu sighed. "I don't know Jenrya. From what Yamaki said, it would be very risky to, not only the Digital World but to the Real World as well." He glanced at his watch and started for the door. 

"I have to get going. The others are probably waiting for me and the with four people victims to this digimon already, time is of the essence." Janyuu spoke as he opened the door. 

"Dad, I want to go with you." 

Janyuu turned back to him. "Jen, I don't think-"

"I want to help." Jenrya interrupted. "I may not be a computer expert, but I can't just stand here when people are being hurt and pretend that I don't know anything. Besides, you said there was a chance that you could get Terriermon back and I want to be a part of it." 

Janyuu looked at his son and sighed. _He's so determined. But that's what everyone says about me. He was so angry with me when Terriermon had to leave him, even though it was the only way to destroy D-Reaper. I can't deny him the chance to bring him back._

"We better get going." Janyuu said wearily. 

Jenrya nodded. "I promise that I won't get in the way. I'll do whatever I can to help." 

"I know you will Jen." Janyuu stepped away from the door, allowing Jenrya to walk through it before him. Janyuu was in the process of closing the door, when the phone suddenly rang. He sighed loudly before glancing at his son. 

"We don't have time for this." Janyuu re-entered the apartment and made his way to the phone, which was still running continuously. 

"Hello?" He answered it hurriedly. 

_"Janyuu? This is Yamaki. I'm glad that I was able to catch you." _

"If you had called a few minutes later you wouldn't have. My son and I were just on our way to meet you."   

_"Your son?"_ Yamaki sounded surprised. _"But I suppose he does have his part to play in all of this. That's the reason I called you. Despite it's constant migration, we've been able to track the rogue digimon to, ironically Shinjuku Park. We've determined that its course is the center of the park. I wanted to warn you because I know that your son and the rest of the Tamers have a habit of associating within the park. I have Reika, Megumi, Daisy, Curly, Babel and Dolphin notifying the other parents of the situation and I wanted to make sure that you received the information as well. _

"Thank you for doing so, I feel much better knowing that Jenrya is with me and not anywhere near the park. I just pray that the other children aren't either." 

_"So do I. Especially with Shaggai still not operating. I've called my superiors, stressing the importance of the recovery of our equipment, but it seems as thought they're more worried about a security scandal than anything else." Yamaki replied with irritation. _

"Our tax dollars at work." Janyuu responded disapprovingly. 

_"Unfortunately. But as I said earlier, we need you here as soon as possible." _

"Right. Jen and I are leaving now. We should be at Hypnos shortly." Janyuu hung up the phone and ran to the door. 

"Was that-" Jenrya inquired. 

"It was Yamaki. He said that they have tracked the digimon to the park." An edge of fear crept into Janyuu's voice. "Jenrya, do you know if any of your friends planned upon going to the park today?" 

Jenrya's eyes widened. "I heard Hirokazu and Kenta whispering something about going there early this morning. They might still be there!" 

Janyuu closed the door quickly, causing a loud _slam_ to emaciate from it. "We have to hurry! This digimon is incredibly dangerous and if they still are in the park, then they're completely defenseless against it!" 

He began sprinting down the hallway with Jenrya at his heels. _Please,_ Jenrya prayed, _Let us get there in time. I've already lost Terriermon, I don't want to loose my friends too._     __

~*~

Within Shinjuku Park, the sun was shining, while a cool wind did blow. Pedestrians, both adults and children meandered about lazily, enjoying their good fortune. But for Kitagawa Kenta, despite the wonderful weather, the day was a nightmare.  

Hirokazu and Kenta had been hidden by a tall bush for little more than an hour watching Takato and Juri's picnic. It had been Hirokazu's idea because, "We planned everything and now it's time to see how it all turns out."

"Anything happening?" Kenta inquired, his voice full of boredom. 

"They're eating." Hirokazu answered.

"And?" 

"And what? I told you, they're eating." 

Kenta jumped up suddenly. "I can't stand this anymore!" 

Hirokazu glanced at Takato and Juri, seeing if they had noticed them, then stood quickly and dragged Kenta back down with him. "Shhh, do you want them to hear us?" 

Kenta glared at him. "If it would get us out of here, then I would yell at the top my lungs." 

"You're pathetic." Hirokazu said rolling his eyes. "No one said that this was going to be easy." 

"Easy? It's really easy. You just didn't say that it would be boring!"

Hirokazu ignored him and continued to stare at Takato and Juri, when his eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, I don't think it's going to be boring anymore." 

~*~

Takato sat across from Juri, his expression one of happiness and laughter. 

"Do you remember," Juri began, "The time when Hirokazu and Kenta accidentally-on purpose- put glue in Mrs. Kasatomi's chair, but when they both pretended to be polite and pulled out the chair for her, they ended up tripping and falling into the glue-face first!" 

Takato laughed as he mentally pictured Hirokazu and Kenta, three years prior, with their faces covered in glue. 

"Don't forget the time that Hirokazu decided to pull an April Fools joke on his mother. He brewed a ton of Green Tea and put it in her favorite shampoo." Takato continued. "And after she took her shower, her hair ended up turning **bright **red! After that stunt, he was so scared of her, that he ended up sleeping over at my house for almost a week!"

This drew a jubilant laugh from Juri and caused Takato to smile. _It's been such a long time since she's laughed like that,_ he thought with a sense of sadness. 

Juri saw a strange expression cross Takato's face and her smile faded. "Takato, is something wrong?" She asked softly. 

Takato shook his head. "No, there's nothing wrong." But inside Takato couldn't help but feel confused. _I really wanted to see Ruki, especially since she hasn't been doing that well, but I've actually been having fun today. It's been so long since Juri and I talked about anything other than guilt and blame, that I've forgotten how much I've missed it. _

She watched Takato closely and blushed when he glanced at her. 

"Takato," She began, "Do-do you remember when you told me that you liked me and I told you that I only liked you as a friend?"

Takato felt his stomach clench and nodded. 

"It took me time to realize it, but I was wrong. You were always so nice to me, and we've been friends for so long. I could always tell you anything, like how I felt after Leomon was destroyed." Juri's voice wavered slightly. "And you would try to cheer me up or tell me how you really felt." 

Juri hesitated slightly. "I just wanted to tell you that I really like you, and that I care about you. You believed in me, even when I gave up on myself. You rescued me, even when I thought that no one could. I owe you so much and I'm just glad that I finally had the courage to tell you." 

Takato felt lost. He had said similar things to one of D-Reaper's Agents months ago, believing her to be Juri and had felt crushed when she had simply read the ingredients off a meal he had brought her. _How can I tell her that my feelings for her have changed, that I only think of her as a close friend? I still care about her, but after everything that she's been through, how can I hurt her like this? I could never lie to her and even if I did, she would find out the truth and would be all the more hurt. That's the last thing that I want to do to her. I just want her to be happy. _

"Takato?" Juri said softly as she leaned towards him. 

Takato moved away from her and stood. Juri watched him feeling puzzled. "Did I do something wrong?" She whispered. 

When he turned to her, Juri could see the sad expression on his face. "Juri, I-I'm sorry." 

"Sorry?" Juri repeated. "I don't understand." 

_Here goes._ Takato thought miserably. "Juri, I care about you a lot. You've always been one of my closest friends and you even know me better than I do sometimes. I don't want to hurt you, but I can't lie to you either. I don't want to lose you as my friend, but that's all that we can be. I'm sorry." 

Juri stared at him for a moment and then looked away. _I was wrong,_ she thought wretchedly. _I thought that Takato still felt the same way about me, but I guess he's changed more than I thought._ Juri grasped her fingers tightly around a napkin_. Or maybe he really listened to me. He told me how he felt and I told him I just wanted to be friends. This is all my fault._  __

Takato watched Juri, feeling helpless. He wished that she would say or do something to let him know what she was thinking. But one thing he knew about Juri, was that she kept her feelings inside, and yet pretended that everything was fine on the outside. _But I don't think that she can pretend that this is okay,_ Takato thought worriedly.  

~*~

Hirokazu and Kenta sat in their bush with both of their mouths hanging open. They had been watching Takato and Juri's picnic, with Hirokazu whispering "Go Takato!" every so often. They weren't able to make out all that was said, but when Juri moved closer to Takato, they both had an idea of what would happen next.

"See, what did I tell you?" Hirokazu whooped and grabbed Kenta around the neck. Hirokazu and Kenta Matchmaker's Extraordinaire is a success!" He punctuated the statement by noogying Kenta's head. 

"All right, all right, I believe you! You don't have to rub my head in to prove it." Kenta yelped twisting away from him. 

"Hey wait a minute…" Hirokazu said suspiciously as he resumed watching his friends. 

"What? What's going on?" Kenta asked trying to see past by Hirokazu. The blue haired Tamer finally caught a glimpse of Takato and realized that Juri wasn't anywhere near him anymore. Suddenly, a flash of red caught Kenta's attention, and he glanced to his right. He then noticed a familiar red haired figure stand from the underbrush, her face a mask of fury. She turned and made her way away from the Tamers, her gait rigid and quick. 

"Hey, Hirokazu." Kenta nudged his companion. 

"Not now Kenta, I'm trying to hear what's going on!" Hirokazu snapped anxiously. _Everything was going so great! What the heck just happened?_ He wondered.

Kenta elbowed Hirokazu harder. "But I just saw Ruki!"

Hirokazu stiffened. If there was any name that could provoke any fear in him, aside from that of his parents' and Ms. Asanuma's, it was The Digimon Queen Makino Ruki's. 

"Gee, if I knew she was going to show up, I would have told Jen to meet us here." Hirokazu said jokingly, trying to cover up his  nervousness. 

Kenta shook his head. "I don't think that would have been a good idea. She looked really angry. Even Takato didn't look as scary as she did." 

Hirokazu glanced at Juri and Takato. They seemed to be talking about something, if only he could get closer. But Hirokazu knew that was impossible and the last thing that he needed was for them to figure out that he and Kenta, well, mostly he, had planned the whole event. 

"Maybe we should follow Ruki to find out what's wrong." Hirokazu suggested reluctantly. 

"Are you crazy?" Kenta exclaimed. "You know she thinks we're the most annoying thing on Earth, next to Ryou and if seeing Takato and Juri got her upset-"  

"Seeing Takato and Juri?" Hirokazu interrupted. "If that made her mad, then maybe…" He turned the thought over in his mind. _No, it's impossible! I mean her and…there's no way! _

"Hey Kenta, you don't think that maybe Ruki," Hirokazu hesitated. "Has a thing for Takato?" 

Kenta gaped at him. "No way! I mean, I don't think so." Kenta considered Hirokazu's statement. "Could she?" He finally questioned. 

"There's only one way to find out." Hirokazu said assuredly. "And since Juri and Takato aren't speaking loud enough for us to hear, then we probably won't hear anything useful by staying here." He stood up and cringed as his spine gave a very audible crack. Kenta followed suit and rubbed his back, trying to regain feeling in it. 

"Let's go. Ruki has a pretty big head start, but I bet we can catch her." Hirokazu said as he took off running. 

"The only question is, do we want to?" Kenta replied apprehensively and after a final look at Juri and Takato, ran to catch up with Hirokazu.    

~*~

Ruki walked past multiple trees and shrubbery as she made her way towards the center of Shinjuku Park. Her eyes were narrowed to slits and her hands clenched and unclenched unconsciously. _How could he?_ She thought furiously. 

The image that she had just seen replayed in her mind over and over again. Juri and Takato sitting together talking, Then Juri moving closer and… It was at that time that Ruki had turned away. _He told me that they were 'just friends.'_ She thought heatedly. 

And what infuriated her the most, was how much the lie bothered her. She had always prided herself upon being independent, always keeping others at arms length. But slowly, that had changed. The time she had spent being a Tamer had improved the relationships she had with her mother, her partner and even helped her to become friends with the other Tamers. And hen Takato had told her how he felt about her and she had kissed him, she had been…happy. It only showed how much she had changed. 

But now… _Why did he even bother to call? _Was he going to tell her how wrong he was and that he really wanted to be with Juri instead? Ruki stopped walking and slammed her fist into a tree. _Why do I care so much? I was never into all this emotion nonsense, but now I'm angry because_ _I caught Takato kissing Juri? _

"I was better off alone." Ruki spoke bitterly. "At least then I didn't have to worry about being jealous of Juri or enraged with Takato. I was strong and didn't need anyone, aside from Renamon and now…" She stared distractedly at a large tree. _I bet Ryou would have a field day if he heard about this. Not that I actually care what Mr. Perfect thinks of anything,_ _I'd rather be deleted by D-Reaper than hear one of his smart aleck remarks. _

A loud crunching sound caused Ruki to turn, irritated by the interruption. 

"Hey Ruki! Wait up!" A very familiar voice called loudly. Ruki mentally cringed and glanced behind her. Sure enough, Hirokazu and Kenta, the Dimwit Duo were running towards her at breakneck speed. _I'm really not in mood to deal with those two._ Ruki began walking again, ignoring the two Tamers' pleas for her to stop. 

"I bet if we were Takato, you'd stop!" Hirokazu yelled obnoxiously loud as Kenta tried to shush him. That finally drew a reaction. 

Ruki finally stopped and turned to advance upon Hirokazu and Kenta, who had stopped running. She glared at them with flashing eyes and was slightly satisfied to see them back away slightly. 

"Let me make one thing clear, whatever you two think you know about me and Takato, forget it!" Ruki said coldly. "If I hear one more crack about any of that, then I'll make sure that the both of you really spend some quality time together in the Emergency Room. Understand?" 

Both Tamers nodded rapidly. If Ruki had been yelling at them, then Hirokazu might not have taken her seriously, but her voice was so cold and full of deadly menace that Hirokazu didn't dare call her bluff. 

"Good." Ruki turned away from them and nearly bumped into the digimon of her nightmares. 

~*~

He was shrouded in white, making his ashen skin seem all the more pallid. He wore a light blue mask that covered his crimson flamed eyes and matched his spiky hair. Two pairs of tattered white wings hung down his back neglected.  

"Makino Ruki." He spoke ominously. "On this day, we truly meet." 

Ruki glared at the digimon, her eyes narrowed as she reached for her D-Ark. 

He watched her closely and tilted his head in identification. "Introductions, perhaps? Very well then. I am Hekatemon a digimon of the Ultimate level. I use my Icicle Stunner and Frostbite attacks to annihilate and freeze anything that stands before me." 

Kenta gaped at the reserved digimon, while Hirokazu simply stared. 

"Well that's encouraging." He muttered sarcastically. 

Ruki resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead glanced at Kenta and Hirokazu. "Get out of here! He's been following me, he doesn't want you two imbeciles!" 

Kenta was about to speak, until Hirokazu interrupted him. "No way! We're not about to just run away and leave you with this guy!" 

"And just what are you going to do, protect me?" Ruki snorted derisively. "Like that's ever going to happen." 

"Hirokazu's right, we're not going to leave you here!" Kenta exclaimed. 

Hekatemon ignored them completely. "I have been searching for you Makino Ruki. Crossing through both worlds for vengeance. A vengeance to be sated with your blood." He held out one of his hands, beckoning her. "Come to me, Makino Ruki." 

"I don't think so." Ruki spat as she backed away in disgust. 

His face turned wrathful and Hekatemon's mouth pulled back in a feral snarl, all pretense of politeness vanishing. "Refusal, unexpected." He glowered fiercely at Kenta and Hirokazu and took a step towards them. "Refuse to obey me, your humans will die!"

_No!_ Ruki thought furiously. Even though they really irritated her at times, they didn't deserve to die. Hekatemon had really put her in a dangerous situation. _I'm not about to go with Hekatemon, but I can't let him kill Hirokazu and Kenta either. _

The two Tamers in jeopardy stared at the demonic digimon as he drew nearer. Ruki clenched her hands into fists, her expression set stubbornly. _I can't believe I'm doing this._

"You went to all the trouble of finding me, and now you're after those two? You may be an Ultimate digimon, but I'd say that whatever you have for power, you lack in brains." Ruki taunted Hekatemon. 

Hekatemon snarled wildly and began moving towards her. Ruki shot Hirokazu and Kenta a glance, clearly saying, _Run!_

Hirokazu watched the monstrous digimon advance on Ruki feeling torn. He didn't want to end up on the wrong end of the his claws, but he couldn't just abandon Ruki, no matter how crazy he thought she was or how annoying she thought he was. 

"Kenta," He whispered. "I've got an idea. This guy just wants Ruki, so he wouldn't really notice if one of us just happened to get away and bring back Takato and Juri, right?" 

Kenta glanced at Hekatemon and then back at his friend. "But even if one of us got away, then it wouldn't be only Ruki who could get hurt, but the other one of us too." 

Hirokazu nodded. "So what are you waiting for? Get going!" 

"Me? I'm not going!" Kenta countered indignantly.

Hekatemon suddenly lunged towards Ruki, causing her to drop to the ground with a grunt. Standing above her, Hekatemon swiftly kicked at Ruki, sending her rolling across the ground. 

For a moment, things stood still, until shakily Ruki stood. A thin trail of blood flowed from her mouth and dirt streaked her face. But even her injuries couldn't still the look of determination on her face. "Is that all you've got?" She said glaring at Hekatemon insolently. 

_She's crazy!_ Hirokazu thought in shock. _But she is Ruki, it's not like we should expect anything else._ _I'm not a hero, that's usually Takato, Ryou or Jenrya's job, but I can't just stand here like a coward!_

Hirokazu turned to Kenta, "You run faster than I do, I guess all that running away from Ms. Asanuma and her essays really paid off." Hirokazu's face became uncharacteristically solemn. "You have to get Takato. I'm not really sure what he can do, but he does have a weird way of making things turn out okay, even when they look really bad."

Kenta finally relented. "You're right. Just try not to get you or Ruki killed until I get back." 

"Hey, this is me you're talking about." Hirokazu replied grinning slightly. 

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of." Kenta responded matching his smile. They stood in silence for a moment, and then Kenta took off, running back towards the trees.

 __

_Kenta, I'm counting on you dude. _Hirokazu thought as he ran next to Ruki and gave Hekatemon an impertinent glare of his own. 

"I thought I told you to get out of here!" Ruki snarled at him crossly.  

"What, and miss fighting an evil digimon who wants to turn you into a Popsicle, no way!" Hirokazu said smirking. 

Though in pain, Ruki rolled her eyes. "Idiot." 

"Enough!" Hekatemon roared furiously. He flapped his torn wings and launched towards the two Tamers at an incredible speed. Before either of them could duck, Hekatemon viciously knocked Hirokazu into a nearby tree and seized Ruki by her throat. 

Hirokazu shook his head to clear it. He stood slowly, feeling as though most of his bones had been broken. _Now that's something I'll never try again,_ he thought feeling dazed. _Ruki, where is she?_ Hirokazu wondered as he glanced around him.

He gasped when he finally noticed Hekatemon, with one of his hands surrounding Ruki's throat, holding her in the air and effectively choking her. 

"No, Ruki!" Hirokazu shouted in distress.  

~*~

Juri and Takato were both silent as they slowly cleaned up the remains of their picnic. The air between them was tense as Juri did her best to avoid Takato, while he tried to think of something he could do to make things right. 

The two Tamers would have remained as such, if Kenta hadn't come barreling towards them, shouting Takato's name.

Takato stared at Kenta, his eyes widening in surprise. "Kenta, what are you-" 

"Takato, something really bad has happened!" Kenta wheezed breathlessly. 

"Something bad?" Takato repeated worriedly. "What do you mean?" 

 Despite her distress, Juri moved closer to Kenta and Takato, listening to Kenta's explanations of what had happened.

"One minute Hirokazu and I were just spy-I mean just fooling around, but then Ruki decided to show up." 

"Ruki?" Juri watched as Takato's face paled. _If Ruki was here, then she must have seen Juri try to kiss me. But I told her that Juri and I are just friends! Now she must think that I lied to her. I never meant to hurt Ruki or Juri, but now I've hurt them both. What kind of person does that to the people they care about?  _

"She looked really mad and then took off. Hirokazu and I tried to catch up to her, and when we finally found her, there was this weird digimon standing in front of her." 

_I have to hearing things,_ Takato thought incredulously. _A digimon here in the Real World? If that digimon found a way to come here, then maybe Guilmon and the other digimon could come back too!_

 "And then the digimon, Hekatemon or something, says that he wants Ruki to come with him, so that he could kill her!" Kenta burst out frantically. 

Juri's eyes widened. "Why would he want to hurt Ruki?" 

"I don't know! But Hirokazu told me to find you two, while he stayed with Ruki to keep Hekatemon busy until you got there! We have to go help them!" 

"But what can we do?" Juri inquired. 

Takato turned to his fellow Tamers, a look of grim determination etched on his face. "It doesn't matter. Ruki and Hirokazu are in trouble and right now, we're the only ones who can help them. We may not have our digimon, but we're still Tamers! Hirokazu and Ruki are our friends, we have to save them!" 

A sudden explosion of white light interrupted Takato. "We have to go! Are you guys with me?" He asked seriously as he looked at Juri and Kenta. 

"Count me in." Kenta replied sternly. 

Takato's expression softened as he focused upon Juri. "Juri if you don't want-"

"Count me in too." She interrupted him. "I don't really know what we can do, but I want to help Hirokazu and Ruki."  

_She always does that, _Takato thought forlornly. _Even when she's hurt, Juri always thinks of everyone but herself. _

Juri stared at Takato, then lowered her eyes and looked away. _And I'm the one who hurt her. And Ruki saw her try to kiss me and was attacked by a digimon and Hirokazu's with her. I can't fail them too. _

Loud cries reached the Tamers, causing Kenta to pale slightly. 

"I shouldn't have left them alone." Kenta whispered hanging his head. 

"It isn't your fault." Juri said trying to comfort him. "Takato," She called to the red haired Tamer uneasily. 

Takato nodded and began running. Kenta and Juri followed close behind him, all of them 

hoping that they would make it in time. 

~*~

Hekatemon held Ruki by the throat in one of his large hands, as though she were nothing more than a doll. Despite her struggling, she had long since lost conscious from lack of oxygen. 

"Leave her alone you frozen freak!" Hirokazu shouted at the tall digimon, causing him to turn towards him with a snarl. 

Hirokazu blanched as Hekatemon fixed him with his bleeding, crimson gaze. "Err, I was just kidding, you know about the whole freak thing. And as for being frozen, well, think of it this way, on a hot day, you'll never have to buy ice cubes." He stammered, his voice trembling with fear. 

"Unimportant filth." Hekatemon said contemptuously as he raised one of his hands and aimed at Hirokazu. The boy suddenly glanced behind him, as he heard the distant sounds of footfalls breaking branches drawing closer. _C'mon guys, I can't keep him here forever, _he thought anxiously.  

The digimon shouted, "Frostbite!" And like a white wave, ice seemed to bloom upon the ground, before rushing up Hirokazu's legs as the Tamer began to creep backward. 

"No!" Hirokazu exclaimed in shock as the ice slowly crawled up his body, causing him to fall to the ground. 

Hekatemon smiled sadistically, as Hirokazu's body was encompassed in the ice. The boy's cries of protest only granted him greater elation, if only Makino Ruki had acted so. 

"Hirokazu, hang on we're coming!" The voice echoed loudly from the trees behind them, as Takato, Kenta and Juri rushed to reach their fallen friend. 

The ice was almost upon Hirokazu's chest when the Tamers reached him, with Takato in the lead. From behind him, Juri covered her mouth in shock and whispered, "Oh, no!" 

Brushing past Takato, Kenta ran towards the partially frozen and unconscious Hirokazu. Takato stared at Hekatemon, who withdrew his hand and stepped backwards, with pure fury.  

"What did you do to him?" Kenta asked, hesitant to touch his friend. "Hirokazu, come on dude, speak to me!" He begged. 

Hekatemon smiled demonically, showing his rows of many teeth. "He will not speak and soon will no longer breathe. His foolishness has granted him his death." 

Juri's eyes widened. "No, we can't loose another friend! Please, don't do this!" 

The smile changed to a look of disgust. "Pathetic. You are nothing more than weaklings. Undeserving of life." 

"You're wrong!" Takato shouted furiously. "That's what D-Reaper thought and it was wrong too! No one has the right to choose who lives or dies, it didn't and neither do you! And I refuse to just stand here and let you hurt my friends!"   
  


"You are nothing." Hekatemon hissed at him. "You hold no power, save your words and your words mean nothing to me." He shifted his weight, and placed one of his talon covered hands beneath Ruki's chin. 

"She has strength. That is why _he_ wanted her and that is why she will die." 

Takato felt his rage burn within him. _That thing hurt Hirokazu and wants to kill Ruki. I won't let him hurt her. I may not have Guilmon, but I'm not helpless. _

Juri, who still stood behind Takato, feeling a mixture of fear and anger, could see him trembling in front of her. 

"Takato?" She spoke nervously. 

He didn't respond to her. Takato merely continued staring at Hekatemon, his fists clenching and unclenching and his body giving off an aura of burning rage.

"Put Ruki down. Now!" Takato spat, his voice constrained with anger.

Kenta looked up from Hirokazu's still form and locked eyes with Juri. A thought seemingly passed between them. _This is really bad._

Hekatemon laughed wildly, his voice rising to an almost ridiculous pitch. "You believe you can order me? A worthless human?" He choked out between guffaws.

"Ruki's unconscious and Hirokazu's dying and you're… laughing?" Juri flinched at the acrid tone in Takato's voice. She had only heard it once before, after Leomon had been destroyed and Takato had threatened Beelzebumon before he had forced Guilmon to evolve. _It's like things are happening all over again,_ Juri thought fearfully.  

Suddenly, without warning, Takato rushed towards Hekatemon, his fists clenched tight and his rage overwhelming his common sense. 

Almost instantly, Hekatemon regained his icy demeanor and with lightening speed, lashed out with one of his clawed hands. 

Juri didn't even realize that Takato had been struck, until the red haired Tamer fell to his knees, blood dribbling from his nose and into his mouth. 

"Takato!" Juri cried and uncaring of the dangerous position that she placed herself in, ran to his side. 

"Not you too!" Kenta cried. 

Takato spat scarlet blood onto the green grass, his body still shuddering. Juri reached into her pocket, retrieving a napkin from their ruined picnic and gave it to him. Takato grasped it and stood shakily, ignoring the blood flowing down his face. Slowly he began to step forward. 

Juri shook her head and moved in front of him. Takato stared at her, as tears streaked down her face. "Takato, I won't let you get hurt. Leomon, Hirokazu, Ruki, I can't lose you too." 

Takato stared at her determined face. "Juri…" His voice wavered, unsure. But he still moved, as though to push by her. It was then that Kenta had had enough. He jumped up and stood in front of Takato, beside Juri, keeping him from moving forward. 

Hekatemon stared at the scene before him, in boredom. He had what he wanted and was tired of wasting time. Slowly he began to ascend from the ground and float backwards, into the shadows of the trees. 

Takato stared at him, and struggled against the combined strength of Juri and Kenta. "He has Ruki, We can't let him take her!" 

Kenta almost shook him. "You saw what he did to Hirokazu, don't you understand? He wants to kill us!" He said frantically. 

Takato continued to struggle. "He's going to kill her!" 

"There's nothing that we can do!" 

Takato could feel his fury subsiding, only to be replaced by painful grief. _This is all my fault. If I hadn't come here today, Ruki wouldn't have seen Juri and I. And Hekatemon wouldn't have hurt Hirokazu or taken Ruki. I should have done something._

And with a final wave, the frigid demon vanished. 

"Ruki!" Takato screamed into the darkness. Silence was his only reply. 

~*~

Jenrya ran as fast as his legs could carry him, with Janyuu close behind him. Something was wrong, he could feel it. _Please, don't let us be too late,_ he prayed silently. Aloud he asked, "Dad, how far away are we?" 

"Yamaki said that the digimon was in the center of the park." His father answered. "We should be there in a few minutes." 

Jenrya would have nodded, but as he cleared the underbrush, a terrible scene greeted him. Hirokazu lay unconscious on the ground, the lower half of his body completely covered in ice. Kenta was kneeling beside him, tears flowing down his face. 

Janyuu immediately ran to the fallen Tamer and placed two fingers below his neck. His face was a picture of pain as he desperately searched for Hirokazu's pulse. He exhaled loudly when he found it, and though it was terribly weak, it was still something.

Kenta watched him closely. "Is he…" 

Janyuu rummaged through his coat pockets, searching for his cell phone. "No, not yet. But he needs to get to the hospital." 

He finally extracted the phone and removed his jacket, handing it to Kenta. "Put this over him, we have to try and warm him up the best that we can, until an ambulance arrives." 

Kenta nodded and draped the jacket over Hirokazu's chest. Janyuu watched him as he dialed his phone, his voice becoming strangely composed as he spoke to the emergency personal. 

Jenrya  listened to his father give the park's location and stared at Hirokazu, feeling his chest starting to burn slightly. _How could this have happened? _He wondered._ We've met some terrible digimon like the Devas and Beelzebumon, when he was evil, but this seems just too horrible to believe. _

Jenrya looked towards the trees, suddenly feeling overwhelmed. It was then that he noticed Takato staring at the trees, completely unmoving, while Juri watched him helplessly. Jenrya ran to them, feeling relieved that neither of them had been injured, until he saw the blood and tears coursing down Takato's face. 

Juri turned to him and he saw an expression of sorrow that mirrored his own, reflected upon her face. 

"What happened?" He asked, his voice sounding strangled and hoarse. 

"Takato and I were having a picnic and then Kenta ran up to us and told us that an evil digimon was trying to take Ruki. He said that Hirokazu stayed behind to try and help her and that they needed help." Juri took a breath, in an effort not to start crying all over again. 

"And when we got there, Hirokazu was frozen and the digimon had Ruki. Takato tried to stop him but-" Unbidden, tears once again did stir within her eyes and feeling slightly awkward, Jenrya pulled Juri to him, trying to comfort her. 

They stayed like that for a moment, until Juri suddenly pulled away from him. Sighing, he then bent down towards Takato, hoping to receive some type of reaction. Sirens shrieked loudly in the distance, causing Jenrya to flinch slightly. 

"Takato," He began. "I know how you're feeling, but we will get Ruki back. Right now at Hypnos, Yamaki is getting the Monster Makers together in order to create away to stop this digimon. They already have a way of tracking it, and it's only a matter of time before we find it and Ruki."

Takato said nothing.  

"Takato, can you hear me?" Jenrya asked frenetically. Takato simply stared ahead, tears leaking down his bleeding face. 

"Takato," He called again. "Takato!"  

~*~

In the next chapter: Members of the Wild Bunch join together to carry out their plans, Ruki learns the truth about Hekatemon and Takato receives a motherly intervention. 


	6. Recovery

It took long enough, but fanfiction.net is finally back online. The ironic thing is that not only is the Website working, but so am I. 

**Kenta:** _*snickering*_ No way! _You_ have a job? 

My first ever. And what precisely is so humorous about that? 

**Kenta:** I'm not sure if it's the fact that you actually went looking for one or that someone actually hired you. 

Oh yes, very droll. Now if only I could receive as many reviews as I do grievances, then I'd be happy.    

**Kenta:** Wait; let me guess, "Do you want fries with that?" 

What happened to Hirokazu can very easily happen to you, you know. And where I work has no connection with the fast food community. 

**Kenta: ***nervously*** **Right. Got it. ****

Good. Anyway, thank you Dark Child, my 150th reviewer, for your review and Digidestined of Courage for your review and suggestions. I had a similar idea, strangely enough. And Hekatemon isn't an actual digimon, merely a creation of my twisted little mind. I hope that everyone is in character and that you enjoy this chapter. And don't forget to review, if you please. 

Recovery 

The waiting room of Shinjuku Medical Center was unusually crowded, in addition to Juri and her father, Jenrya's mother, father, and sister Shuichon, Kenta and his parents, Ruki's mother and grandmother and Hirokazu's parents were spread throughout the room. 

After the ambulance had arrived and picked up Hirokazu and Takato, Janyuu had informed Yamaki about the terrible events that had taken place. From Hypnos, the Wild Bunch had once again taken to the phones, this time to notify the other parents of the new developments. 

Janyuu had then driven Juri, Jenrya and Kenta to hospital, and been greeted by the masses of alarmed parents in the reception room. But it was Makino Rumiko, and Shiota Hitomi and Shiota Mamoru, Ruki's mother and Hirokazu's parents, who had been in the worst states. 

"There has to be someone we can call! The police, the army, anybody!" The immaculately coifed Rumiko cried agonizingly. 

"Hypnos was created to track digimon and even they haven't been able to find it. I strongly doubt that the army will have been luck." Janyuu replied. 

"My little girl is out there with-with that monster! And there's nothing that I can do to help her?" Rumiko lavender eyes filled with tears. "I can't stand just being here helpless when Ruki is in trouble."   
  


Seiko pulled her daughter close to her. "We understand how you are feeling dear. But Ruki is a strong girl. I know she's alive and that we will find some way to help her. And don't forget that she's protected by her digimon companion." 

"But they're gone!" Kitagawa Naruku interrupted. "With this digimon on the loose, and their partners in the Digital World, they can't defend them." 

Janyuu nodded. "That's what Yamaki and the rest of the Monster Makers are working on. But from what he's told me, the heads of Hypnos aren't being very cooperative." 

Lee Mayumi sighed. She had come to the hospital despite her husband's assertions that Jenrya was perfectly safe and wasn't about to leave. "That isn't surprising Janyuu. After what happened when the last digimon attacked Shinjuku, and with D-Reaper, the people are still very high strung. News of yet another digimon murdering and kidnapping humans might send them into a panic." 

"A panic?" Mr. Shiota sputtered, finally breaking his silence. "I'd rather have a panic, an earthquake, anything than what's happened to my son!" His wife nodded, her tear covered face a mirror of Rumiko's, as she stood in her husband's arms. 

A loud bang emitted behind the Tamers and their parents, causing them all to jump. The pale and strained faces of Matsuda Mie and Matsuda Takehiro were visible as they entered the already crowded room. 

"What happened? Where is my Takato?" Mie spoke breathlessly. 

"He was taken by the doctors to be treated for shock." Janyuu answered. "And we're waiting for a doctor to give us news about Hirokazu." 

"How could this have happened?" Takehiro wondered disbelievingly. "I thought that after the battle with D-Reaper things would be normal again. But this…" 

Mrs. Matsuda made her way to the reception desk. "Please, I need to see my son, Matsuda Takato. He was brought in for shock a little while ago and he probably needs me and his father right now." 

The receptionist nodded. "We weren't allowing anyone to see the patient, at least not until you arrived." She pushed a button under her desk that caused a loud, distinct _buzz_ and opened the Emergency Room door. 

"Go through that door, and to your left. He's in Room 281." 

Takato's father nodded. "Thank you." He took his wife's hand and together they went through the door. 

~*~

Throughout their parents' conversations, the Tamers, even young Shuichon who was positioned next to Juri and Jenrya, had remained silent. But between worrying about Takato, Hirokazu and Ruki, Juri couldn't shake a terrible feeling of dread. 

There were very few places that Juri couldn't stand to be in, but Shinjuku Medical Center was one of them. Maybe it was the sterile environment, where doctors and nurses breezed through operating rooms, deeming patients by malady, and with cool precision rather than being hopeful. 

But despite her judgments, Juri knew the true reason behind her discomfort. She could still picture her mother's still body, covered in its indiscriminate white sheet. She remembered feeling disbelief; her mother couldn't truly be lying like that, so silent and cold. Juri had seen her just that morning; so cheerful and happy that she could even bring a smile to her stern father's face. She had giggled happily as her mother tickled her before going to the market to buy some things for the family's bar. 

But then it had happened. She had been playing in her bedroom, while her father read the newspaper in the living room. Then the phone had rang, but she barely noticed it, for she was far too engrossed in her game. 

Juri finally looked up when she noticed her father's tall figure looming above her. His face was terribly pale, making Juri wonder if he had turned into a ghost. But when he spoke, Juri felt her face change color too. 

"Juri, gather your things. Your mother has been in an accident and we're going to see her in the hospital." Tadashi said simply. 

And with those words, Juri's world shattered. Everything began happening so quickly. She didn't remember the trip to the hospital, only what had happened once they reached it. Doctors and nurses milled around, traveling from room to room. Juri had been so relieved once one of the doctors said that he would lead them to her mother's room. Once she saw Mommy, everything would be okay. 

But it hadn't been. Her mother was dead and gone…forever. Juri and her father were all alone. She couldn't stand it. Juri had run from her mother's room, as though trying to escape the truth. She though that if she ran far enough, then maybe her father would bring her mother back and that they would both bring her home. Take her away from the nightmare.

But they hadn't. Minutes later, her had found her curled up in their car, crying and shivering as she tried to make the images of her mother's body disappear. Her father had stared at her for a moment, then uncharacteristically pulled her into his arms and cried with her. 

It had been the first, but not the last time she had seen him cry. When she had been taken by D-Reaper, he had begged and pleaded with the symbiotic mass, until finally breaking down. 

_Is that going to happen again? _She wondered worriedly. _Is Hirokazu going to die here, just like my mother?_

A hand on her shoulder caused Juri to break away from her thoughts and look up. He father was staring forward and Juri followed his gaze. The door that Takato's parents had gone through earlier was opening, and tall man clothed in a long white coat, stethoscope and medical scrubs was emerging from it. 

His face was serious and his solemn gray eyes almost matched his hair. His nametag read Dr. Kinomoto and as he drew closer to the anxious group, Hirokazu's parents made their way forward to meet him. 

"Is he okay?" Mr. Shiota burst out sounding panicked. 

Dr. Kinomoto sighed and shook his head.

"In all my years of medical practice, I've never seen anything like this. We've been giving him liquid baths, warming him up-" The doctor waved his arm as to interpose his statement. "All of the things necessary to prevent the onset of frostbite. But this wound-"

Mr. Shiota looked ready to shake the doctor. "What about it?" 

"It-it isn't by any means natural!" Dr. Kinomoto burst out. "The patient should be conscious, but he isn't! And every time that we manage to remove the ice on his body, it just-grows back! And slowly but surely, it's spreading. We're doing all we can, but I don't know if anything we do will permanently stop it." 

The waiting room was silent as the Tamers and their parents processed this depressing, new information. 

Shuichon looked up at Jenrya from her place beside Juri, her young face a mixture of worry and confusion. "Jen-niichan, is Hirokazu going to-to die?" 

Jenrya looked down at his younger sister. He wanted to reassure her, but from what the doctor had just said, he couldn't help feeling very little hope about his friend's recovery. 

But before he had a chance to answer her, Mr. Shiota cried out, "Well, is he? Is our son going to die?" 

Dr. Kinomoto paled. "I don't know for sure. As long as we continue melting the ice, his condition is stable. But the ice is somehow getting thicker as it spreads, and if it gets to a certain height, we won't have to worry about frostbite any longer. Asphyxiation will claim him instead." 

"Can we see him?" Mrs. Shiota mumbled weakly.

"Of course." Dr. Kinomoto replied solemnly. He then glanced at the large assembly of parents and children warily. "But I think it best if only parents and immediate family see Hirokazu, at least until we can figure out how we can better stabilize him." 

"But he's our friend! We should get to see him too!" Kenta said glaring at him angrily.

"Kenta!" His mother admonished him. 

"Please, just for a little while?" Juri pleaded. "We won't cause any trouble." 

"I'm sorry," Dr. Kinomoto responded. "But right now I think it best for just the parents to see their son. Please," He indicated the two door in front of him. "Follow me." 

Mr. Shiota glanced at the Tamers. 

"Don't you kids worry. Hirokazu's a fighter, he won't give up that easily." He said reassuringly. 

"Mamoru…" His wife called ahead of him. Mr. Shiota nodded once more, then followed her. 

The waiting room became silent once again, though every so often Ruki's mother would sigh worriedly. Unable to stand the silence any longer, Kenta jumped from his seat and walked to the end of the reception room, staring out of the large windows.  

His mother moved to follow him, but her husband clutched her arm. 

"He's upset right now, I think it would be best if he worked out his feelings on his own." 

Mrs. Kitagawa glanced at her son and nodded slowly. She just couldn't bear to see him feeling such undeserved pain. 

Juri watched Kenta sadly. She knew that he, like Takato, blamed himself for what had happened to Hirokazu. _Why can't they see that it wasn't their fault? _Juri glanced at Jenrya next to her, and saw that he felt similar.   
  


While glancing at Juri, Jenrya pulled Shuichon closer to him. _Ruki is gone and Hirokazu may die. But what happens next? Takato's in no state to do anything, and they won't even let us see him either. And Kenta blames himself for Hirokazu's condition. We've never really lost anyone before; thank goodness that we managed to rescue Juri from D-Reaper. But Hirokazu and Ruki… How much more do we have to lose? _

~*~

The cigarette smoke pooled around Yamaki as he stood outside of the Tokyo Towers, beneath the Hypnos offices. Minutes earlier, he had received a phone call from a very shaken Janyuu, a call that had brought his greatest fears and imaginings to life. 

Makino Ruki, the daughter of model Makino Rumiko had been kidnapped and fellow Tamer Shiota Hirokazu was in critical condition in Shinjuku General Hospital. The news had done very little to improve his already frustrated state of mind and only added to the deep guilt that coursed through him.

He had gone outside to smoke, after reassuring the others that he would be back soon and affirming Reika that he preferred to be alone. He needed to relieve some of his tension and he didn't think it wise to expose the woman he loved to the cancerous agents of second hand smoke. 

_Even after all the measures we used, we were still too late,_ Yamaki thought perturbed. _Perhaps if I had informed the Tamers immediately after the digimon had bio-emerged, at least then they would have been on their guard. _

_But I believed that for once, we could handle the situation. It was only a single digimon; using Shaggai we've deleted possibly hundreds. And now, because of that Makino Ruki and Shiota Hirokazu are paying for that mistake. _

Yamaki exhaled the cigarette smoke, wishing that he could simply blow away the shame that he was feeling just as easily. But being the rational person he was, he knew that it wasn't possible. What had happened happened and there was nothing that he could do to change things. 

He had always found self-blame to be unproductive and with the rouge digimon still on the lose, and with a human hostage, he didn't have the time, nor the luxury to give into such self-indulgence. 

Yamaki dropped his cigarette and rubbed the sole of his shoe over it to make sure it was out. _Despite my sentiments, I still have a job to do. Granted,_ w_e are making progress, but it would be much easier if we had access to all of our equipment. _Yamaki reflected. 

The recent happenings had finally caused the higher powers at the supposedly defunct Hypnos to step in, but Yamaki he had mentioned earlier to Janyuu, they seemed more preoccupied in dealing with the government and the public, rather than assisting in the Makino girl's retrieval and the digimon's destruction. 

Hypnos had the means to track the menace, but with its erratic movements, Megumi and Reika often faced the trouble when trying to pin down its permanent location. The government could call in the army and whatever else it wanted, but if the digimon remained unattainable, and continued appearing and disappearing at will, then no matter the weapon, the digimon would still be free to do what it wished. 

I'm surprised that they haven't ganged up on me yet. Though it was they who had been so sure that the digimon threat was over, and the last few months of peace had made them

even more so convinced. Yamaki's eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses as he remembered one of the arrogant executive's continuous needling that he still remained at Hypnos "chasing Phantom-mon." 

Enough of this. Yamaki thought with renewed determination. He needed to think of ways to bring his plans to rebuilt Shaggai and return the Tamers' digimon to a head and not fume over the stupidity of superiors. He turned to the door of the building and as he grasped the handle to open it, it suddenly swung outward, having been opened from the inside. Yamaki relinquished the door handle and stepped back quickly, waiting impatiently for whomever had opened the door to step out so that he may enter. 

A man about his height exited the building and stood in front of Yamaki and regarded him coldly. Yamaki stared back at him challengingly, for he was Takemoto Fujitaka, the one who had informed him smugly of his dismissal months before and who had nearly destroyed the Digital and Real Worlds with his misuse of Shaggai. Ironically that was that very thing that Yamaki had been dismissed for doing as well. 

While he wore a sensible suit similar to Yamaki's, Fujitaka's demeanor was another thing entirely. His eyes held an acute wariness, while his mouth was locked in a furious frown. His hands clenched and unclenched, but whether that was simply a nervous habit or a restraint to keep them from strangling him, Yamaki wasn't sure. 

"Well, Yamaki, it appears that you've gotten what you've wanted." Fujitaka spoke grimly trying to goad him.

"I'm afraid that I have no idea what you're talking about." Yamaki responded evenly. 

Fujitaka's eyes narrowed irately. "We both know what you've been doing. You couldn't stand it, could you? With Hypnos closing and you no longer the head of the Technical Division, you couldn't just let it go." 

Yamaki removed his sunglasses and glared at the man before him. "What you're insinuating is pure nonsense. I've been here trying to prevent these recent events from occurring, while you and most of Hypnos have been collecting your unemployment checks and finding other jobs. I tried to warn all of you that there was no guarantee that the portal to the Digital World was permanently closed, but you refused to listen." 

"Of course, now it's our fault. We didn't listen, we brought this upon ourselves didn't we?" 

This was getting him nowhere. 

"If you excuse me Takemoto, I have things to do." Yamaki said as he tried to brush by Fujitaka. The man reached out one of his hands and clutched Yamaki's arm tightly. 

"We're watching you Yamaki. Every move that you make. I would be very careful about what I do if I were you." Fujitaka tightened his hold as if to punctuate his statement. 

"I am always careful Takemoto." Yamaki pulled away roughly. "Irresponsibility leads to foolish mistakes, but I'm sure that you already know that." Yamaki continued to the door, never glancing back at the furious man behind him. He slipped his sunglasses into his jacket pocket, and then opened the door. A rude name caught his attention behind him, be he still didn't turn. As Yamaki entered the building, he felt his resolve strengthen. He had a job to do.

~*~

In a brightly lit hospital room, Matsuda Takato lay silently in the large bed. His nose was wrapped in the simple white bandage and an intravenous needle ran from his arm to the attached medical sac. 

Nurses constantly ambled in and out of his room, but Takato barely noticed them. He felt better than he had when he arrived at the hospital, but was still in a haze. 

_Ruki, Hirokazu, I let you both down._ _I failed._ Flashes of Ruki unconscious and Hirokazu frozen and of Juri and Kenta standing in front of him caused Takato to grasp his bed sheet tightly in despair. _I should have done something! _

The door to his room opened, and a loud cry jarred him from his thoughts. His eyes widened as his mother ran to him, carefully enveloping him into a tight embrace. Surprisingly, his father followed suit, and for a moment, all Takato could think about was how much he needed them. 

"Oh, Takato, I was worried about you! Ms. Onodera called us at the bakery and told us what had happened. I was so scared that you…" She tightened her embrace. 

"What were you thinking, doing something like that? You're lucky that digimon didn't kill you!" Mrs. Matsuda began to sob. 

Takato felt the pit in his stomach deepen. _I keep hurting everyone. My Mom, Juri, Ruki…                                                                                     _

"Mom," Takato began feeling tears flow from his eyes once again. 

"I know that you're a Tamer and that you wanted to help your friends, but I can't stop worrying that I'll end up losing you." Mrs. Matsuda continued. 

Mr. Matsuda grasped his wife's hand. "Mie-"

"I must seem so selfish, putting my worries ahead of everything else, but you mean so much to us Takato." 

"I know." Takato said wretchedly. "I know that I worry you and I'm sorry. I was just so angry about what happened to Hirokazu and Ruki that I wasn't thinking straight. I wanted to hurt Hekatemon just like he had hurt them." 

Mie held her son tighter. "Takato…"

"And it wasn't the first time this happened." Takato continued. "When Beelzebumon destroyed Leomon, it was my anger that turned Guilmon into a monster and nearly destroyed the Digital World. It all happened because of me." 

"You lost control, it happens to us all Takato." Takehiro said trying to reassure him. 

"But I shouldn't have let it happen! I put Juri and Kenta in danger when they jumped in front of me. What kind of a horrible person does that make me?' 

"Now that's enough of that!" Mie said, a steely note in her voice. "You're the bravest person that I know and I won't hear you talking about yourself like that. Even when things seemed at their worst, you were always willing to do whatever it took to help the people that you care about. It's that courage and determination that make you so special and make us proud to be your parents." 

Takato shook his head. "But I've let them down!" 

"No you haven't." His father argued. "But if you just want to give up on your friends, then you will." 

Takato sat silent, trying to understand what his father had said. Here he was crying in a hospital room, while Ruki was still missing and Hirokazu was hurt. _If they were here, they wouldn't want me give up, just like my parents don't want me to. _

_"Crying again gogglehead?" Ruki would mock him scornfully. "After everything we've been through, you're going to let some frozen nightmare reduce you to this? I don't believe it! And you call yourself a Tamer." _

_Hirokazu would be less blunt, but no less truthful. "C'mon Takato, you're a Tamer! You knocked Beelzebumon around like a rag doll, though don't ever tell him I said that. Hekatemon should be a piece of cake! We're all counting on you dude!"_

_But I can't do it alone. Guilmon and I were a team, just like the rest of the Tamers. And I know that Juri, Kenta and Jen wouldn't give up either. I always wanted to be a digimon Tamer and even though I don't think Guilmon is just a tool for fighting, we did have to fight to help our friends. Guilmon wouldn't want me to give up either. "I will fight by your side, Tamer," he told me just before he evolved to MegaloGrowmon. Guilmon, like everyone else was depending on me and I couldn't let him down. _

_And I can't let Ruki down either. _Takato thought unwaveringly_. I couldn't save Hirokazu, but he isn't gone yet and I will not let Hekatemon take Ruki away from us! She may hate me for what happened, but I won't let someone that I care about be destroyed. Now while I'm still here! I promised Guilmon that I would see him again and told Ruki how I felt about her. Now it's time to make those promises come true. _

_I'm not sure how we'll do it, but we'll all be a team again. _

Takato finally pulled away from his parents and wiped the drying tears from his face. 

"Mom, Dad, you're right." He began. "I can't give up just because of what happened. Hirokazu's still alive and Ruki's counting on the Tamers to help her. It's time that I start acting like one." 

Before either of his parents could stop him, Takato pulled the intravenous needle from his arm, wincing at the slight pain.

"Takato," His mother gasped. "You're still injured, you can't just start gallivanting to the rescue!" 

"Your mother's right. When we said that you shouldn't stop trying to help your friends, we meant after you've had some time to heal!" 

"I'm fine." Takato said reassuringly as he tried to stand. His effort then caused him to stumble into his father's arms. "Well, almost." He added sheepishly. 

Takehiro carefully placed Takato back into his hospital bed and shook his head in bemusement. 

"Now you will sit right there until the doctor says that it's safe for you to leave." When Takato opened his mouth to argue, his mother hushed him. "Right now, everyone is just waiting. You'll have to be patient as well." 

Takato sighed dejectedly_. I guess that I'm stuck here for now. But don't worry Ruki. I'm coming. We all are. _

~*~

Hekatemon floated in his frozen abyss, a triumphant smirk plastered across his hideous face. Things had happened as he had wanted them to and Makino Ruki was finally his. She hung from a large icicle, her arms firmly attached and holding her in place. 

From the moment of her capture, he had been tempted to simply kill her immediately, but he restrained himself. It would be much more satisfying if she were alive when her life ended. Hekatemon wanted her to suffer greatly and to do so, he would have to be patient. 

He also didn't wish for the game to end yet. Judging from the reactions of the other humans, Makino Ruki's capture would not go unmolested, so he had to prepare for attack. Just the thought of battle made Hekatemon's wings twitch pleasantly. He had always enjoyed tearing his enemies to shreds with either his claws or his Icicle Stunner. 

But for this battle, he something else planned. He waved one of his hands and several larger crystals descended from the ceiling. A quick motion and the ice around them shattered, truly revealing them for the first time in ages. 

Several small, rocklike Icemon, gathered around many larger digimon. Hekatemon looked at the Garurumon, Frigimon and Icemon with disinterest, but as his eyes settled upon the large lion Panjyamon, his devilish expression returned. The Perfect Beast Man digimon would be powerful soldier. And a sighting of a Viral MetalGarurumon only added to Hekatemon's glee. 

A sudden cry of "White Statue!" caught Hekatemon's attention, and gave him time to evade a white blast resembling a white dragon. He swore under his breath and glowered at his attacker. A large, white draconian digimon glared back at him and flapped his two avian wings impatiently. _A pathetic, Armored Gargomon dares to attack me? _He reflected furiously. 

"Fool." Hekatemon muttered as he lunged towards the Gargomon, his elongated claws extended. The Gargomon snarled loudly and opened his mouth widely, but before he could call out another attack, Hekatemon struck his jaw hard, slicing off the white band that surrounded it. 

Gargomon bellowed in pain, then slowly became silent. His white eyes began to glow red, making him seem even more similar to his Viral counterpart Devidramon. 

_Legends are true. Interesting._ Hekatemon mused. This battle was going to be very enjoyable. He waved a hand and the masses of silent digimon vanished. Since breaching the separation in dimensions earlier, Hekatemon had complete control of the building and everything in it. He had hidden the digimon and they would wait until the intruders entered to attack. And when Makino Ruki awakened, her death would be all the sweeter. 

Hekatemon felt something sticky on his hand and looked at it. Splashes of red were sprinkled across his metallic claws and down his forearm. _Strange. Digimon do not shed this. Odd. Perhaps Makino Ruki will explain it before she dies._ And with that final thought, Hekatemon vanished in the shadows once again. He was going to go make things more exciting. 

~*~

From inside the Hypnos building, mass amounts of hustle and bustle was taking place. Numerous technicians rushed to the main control center of the building, bringing pieces of equipment along with data and schematics. 

Inside the large room, Reika and Megumi sat, clothed in their familiar white jumpsuits and safety glasses monitoring the grids of data vigilantly. 

Close to the large computer, a small group of people, known to most as the "Monster Makers," the former college students whose experiments with artificial intelligence led to the creation of digimon, worked methodically from assorted computers. 

Their usually cheerful attitudes were replaced with intense seriousness. It had been they who had made the calls to the parents of the Tamers, they knew everything that had happened and precisely what was on the line. 

"I'm almost through with stabilizing the recon program, but most of our efforts depend upon whether the digimon are located in close proximity to one another." An Indian woman, nicknamed "Curly" announced to her companions. 

"That's good." A red haired man referred to as "Dolphin" replied. "I've just about finished with the assorted modifications needed to safeguard the digimon from Shaggai's deleting effects." 

Daisy, a young, blond woman nodded. "It looks like things are running on schedule. Even without the assistance of Tao and Shibumi." 

"Yamaki still hasn't been able to locate him?" Babel, an African American man with dark sunglass encases eyes questioned. Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "If things weren't so serious, I'd say that this was just like college." 

"You're definitely right about that." Daisy agreed "Mizuno always did have a strange habit of disappearing, and then making a dramatic return just when we needed him."   
  
"Well, I say that now would certainly be that time." Curly responded. 

"How are things progressing?" Yamaki's sharp voice suddenly cut through the room. He had left the room minutes before to smoke and returned silently while everyone had been deeply engrossed in their work. 

"We're just about finished reinstalling the Shaggai system, and I'm just about through with completing the necessary alterations to the program's directive." Dolphin answered adjusting his glasses. "We might have finished sooner, but without Shibumi or Tao…" He let the statement die. 

Yamaki absorbed the information and nodded. "Are we ready for a test sequence?" 

Babel shook his head. "Not yet. We still need to install the new directive and we may need the Tamers here, to complete the sequence. They have the closest connections to the digimon, and may be able to act as a type of beacon to draw the digimon to their location." 

"They're still in the hospital, waiting for information regarding their fallen friend. Since things aren't completely up-"

_BEEP!_

Yamaki stopped speaking and gazed at Megumi and Reika, waiting for an explanation. A large grid suddenly materialized on the computer screen, with one large dot blinking brightly. 

"We've finally done it sir." Megumi said delightedly. "We've managed to look on to the digimon's permanent position." 

"Can you bring up a visual image of the location?" 

"Already on it." Reika answered. "Image should be appearing… Now!" 

A large building replaced the grid design on the screen, causing Yamaki narrow his eyes in disbelief. 

"Whoever this digimon is, it certainly has an interest in irony. The four frozen construction workers were found only blocks away from that location." 

"And since we're detecting a human signature, then Makino Ruki has to be with him." 

"Finally, some good news." Babel commented feeling slightly relieved. 

"Wait a minute," Megumi muttered. "Something's wrong, I'm getting readings unlike anything I've seen before coming from that building." 

"I knew it seemed to good to be true." Daisy said sighing. 

The visual image began to grow hazy as a white light exploded from the windows. Instantaneously, a crystalline substance began to coat the building, flowing from its roof to the very ground. 

The Monster Makers looked on in horror, while Yamaki unconsciously flipped the lid of his lighter in irritation. Now, instead of the normal tall, glass windowed building, a jagged structure covered in ice loomed in front of them.  

"Status Report!" Yamaki barked, his earlier confrontation and these new developments eating away at the last threads of his temper. 

"The building has been completely encased in ice, blocking all means of entrance and exit. And it looks like," Reika looked at the data presented to her in shock. "It looks like the ice covering the building is spreading." 

The image on the computer screen widened, clearly displaying the ice, seemingly moving with a mind of its own, slowly across the ground on all sides. Its trek was slow and not delayed by anything it encountered, rocks, and even the bodies of cars slowly became part of the frigid vision. 

"Very well then." Yamaki spoke determinedly. "It seems as though we've run out of time and options. The situation has just become more critical than even I could have imagined." He reached into his pocket and extracted his cell phone. 

"This is it, isn't it?" Dolphin inquired. "It's now time for us to use everything that we've worked on, to create a miracle as it were."   

"Yes." Yamaki responded dialing a familiar number. "And it's time for the Tamers to do what they do best. Hello, Janyuu? It's Yamaki…"

~*~

Notes: The names of the Tamers parents are either real, or made up by me. Gargomon (Gargoylemon) is an actual Virus digimon, he's an Armor evolution of V-mon. The "legend" that Hekatemon mused about came directly from Gargomon's card, which stated that a belt he wore made him unable to do evil. Though which belt was never specified.

I'm also sorry if this chapter seemed boring, but I promise that the next one will be better. And since I ended up rearranging my chapters, here's a small bit, to make up for it: 

_…Ruki struggled against her bonds, trying to get free. "I don't believe you! Hirokazu and Takato aren't dead, you're making this up just to get to me!" _

"The blood of the male human gushed from his neck like a crimson river upon the grass and the other humans could do nothing but watch. You have already seen proof of that." Hekatemon growled convincingly…

_…Her eyes flashed with fury and mouth was set. A blue light began to emancipate from her small body, shattering many small icicles around her. She glared at Hekatemon with pure hatred and the larger digimon stared back at her uncertainly…_

And to add to that, the Tamers try to get their digimon back, Kenta takes a stand and an old ally aides the Tamers (you probably know who).  


	7. Miraculous Rage

So, what do you think of the story? Any questions or comments? The Quantum Ranger said that the story was cool, but I'd say it was "chilling." 

**Cyberdramon:** *_snar_l* Are you my enemy? (Considered in Japan, to be his trademark line).

Me? No, of course not! But you'll meet him very soon. 

**Cyberdramon:** *_grunt_*

Err, yes. So what do you think of Hekatemon?  ****

**Cyberdramon:** When will Ryou and I face him? 

Like I said, soon. I'd say the Tamers were fortunate that I was in a good mood when creating my villain. At least he wasn't like Dagomon, the ruler of the Dark World (Dark Ocean) from Digimon Adventures 02. That enormous monstrosity wanted Hikari for the purposes of procreation. But the dubbed episodes cut that part out. I can certainly see why. 

**Cyberdramon:**…

**_*_**_Sighing*****_ What you wield in power, you lack in conversational skills. Anyway, I hope everyone is in character and that you enjoy the chapter.    

Miraculous Rage __

_"So what are we, helpless? No. The big moments are gonna come. You can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are."_ –**Whistler**- Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

~*~

The waiting room of Shinjuku Medical Center had finally become silent once again, and Kenta could be gladder. The endless waiting and uncertainty about Hirokazu and Ruki had put everyone on edge and the last thing that he wanted to hear was the parents arguing about different ways to correct the situation. All Kenta wanted was some peace and quiet, so that he could sort out the tumulus emotions that raged within him. 

_Hirokazu's laying in a hospital bed and I'm stuck out here. _Kenta thought miserably. He still couldn't believe how quickly things had changed. _One minute we're spying on Takato and Juri and the next some freaky digimon kidnaps Ruki and turned Hirokazu into a human Popsicle._

Kenta stared out the hospital window forlornly_. I should have been there. I know that we wouldn't have stood a chance against Hekatemon, but at least we would have both ended up in this mess together._ Kenta slammed the palm of his hand against the window, ignoring the concerned looks of his parents, Juri and Jenrya.

_We're the Dynamic Duo, Hirokazu and Kenta Matchmakers Extraordinaire and not to mention best friends. But instead of staying to help him, I left him to face Hekatemon all by himself. And I brought Takato, my other best friend right to him too. He's lucky that he isn't dead, and it's all because of me. _

_Because of me, Hirokazu might die and Takato… with him off the deep end, who's going to rescue Ruki? Right now only Jen, Juri and I are the only Tamers left._ Kenta deliberated. _But if Ryou were here…I know that he could help us. Too bad he lives all the way in Hokkaido._

From across the room, a phone rang, but Kenta ignored it. _I wish there was something that I could do. Something to help Hirokazu and Takato and make everything all right._  

~*~

Across the room, Janyuu extracted his cell phone from his pant's pocket. 

"Hel-"

_"Hello, Janyuu? It's Yamaki."_

"Yamaki." Janyuu repeated warily. "Please, tell me you're calling with good news."`

_"I'm afraid not. The situation has just taken an unexpected turn for the worst." _

Janyuu sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that."  

_"I know that this isn't the best time, what with the Shiota boy and Takato in their current conditions, but we need the Tamers immediately. We've been in preparation to test our hypothesis to bring the digimon back, but under the current circumstances, we no longer have that luxury. The power this digimon has is incredible, but also unstable. The location where it has hidden itself and Makino Ruki has become frozen by an impenetrable sheet of ice. And to make matters worse, this ice is slowly spreading, freezing anything that gets in its path. Dolphin believes that the longer this digimon remains in our world, the more the ice will spread and the more difficult it will be to remove it."_ Yamaki explained curtly. 

"That explains it!" Janyuu exclaimed without thinking. 

_"Excuse me?" _

"The doctor examining Hirokazu said that the ice that he was frozen in was spreading up his body and that no matter how many times it was removed, it continued to return." Janyuu responded. 

Yamaki was silent for a moment, then finally spoke. _"The two are most likely connected. But as I was saying, we can't wait any longer. We had planned to have the children report here before instituting Shaggai, but we now think it best if they simply went straight to the digimon's location. The army had planned a preemptive strike, but Babel managed to contact Johnny and the Special Forces, explaining our situation and managing to acquire us the time that we need."_

"How much time is that, exactly?" 

_"Not enough."_ Yamaki admitted. _"So I'd advise you to get the children to the Yashimoto building as soon as possible."  _

"I understand. I'll call you the moment that we arrive." 

_"No need. Reika and Megumi will be tracking your progress and will inform us of your arrival. Once the children are in position, Shaggai will be activated."   
  
_

"I see. Is there anything that the children should do during the activation?" Janyuu inquired. 

_"Pray." _

Janyuu pushed the "talk" button, hanging up the phone and glanced around the waiting room, meeting numerous pairs of anxious eyes. 

Rumiko was first to break the silence. "Have they found anything? Do they know where Ruki is?" 

Janyuu nodded. "Both Ruki and the digimon are within the Yashimoto building, which from what Yamaki told me, has been completely frozen." 

"You're joking." Tadashi spat disbelievingly. "What kind of fool would seal themselves inside a building? What would that accomplish?" 

"Technically, the digimon didn't seal itself in." Janyuu corrected. "Its extended presence in the Real World has created this situation." 

"And now it's time for us to fix it, isn't it Dad." Jenrya said standing. 

Janyuu glanced at his determined son. "Unfortunately, yes. I hate to do this, but we must leave as soon as possible." 

"I'm ready." Juri spoke firmly and mirrored Jenrya by standing. "We can't let the digimon hurt anyone else, not if we can help it. And If Takato were here, he would say the same thing." 

"I'm coming too! Lopmon and me can help you stop the mean digimon." Shuichon piped up from beside Jenrya. 

Her exclamation caused her mother to pale. "Shuichon-"   

"Not this time." Jenrya interrupted. "This digimon is much 'meaner' than Zhuqiaomon ever was and I don't want you to end up in the same position as Hirokazu. Besodes," Jenrya kneeled before his sister. "Someone has to stay here and protect everyone, and I know you're the only person who can do it." 

Shuichon considered her brother's proposal and finally nodded. "Okay. I won't let the mean digimon in." She answered indomitably. 

Jenrya smiled. "I knew I could count on you." He stood and wrapped his arms around his sister, encasing her in a tight hug. 

"Help Ruki-san Jen-niichan." She whispered. "So her Mommy won't be sad anymore." 

"We will." Jenrya replied. "And in a little while you and Lopmon will be back together as well." 

Janyuu watched his children with pride. _I've been lucky that nothing terrible has happened to them. I just pray that this digimon doesn't injure him or the other children. _

As if sharing his thoughts, Tadashi uncharacteristically took his daughter in his arms. 

"You had best come back in one piece Juri." Her father said seriously. "Because if anything happens to you, then this digimon will have much more to worry about." 

Juri couldn't help but smile. Though he hadn't been very demonstrative with his feelings before the incident with D-Reaper, he changed greatly. And Juri still didn't doubt that he would face anyone who hurt her. 

"Don't worry Daddy, Takato and Jenrya and the digimon won't let anything happen to me." Juri said as she pulled away. 

Jenrya reluctantly released his sister and glanced around the room at Juri and Kenta, who had turned away from the window. 

"Well, I guess it's just the three of us." He said circumspectly. 

"Make that two." Kenta responded causing Jenrya's eyes to widen. 

"Two? What are you-"

"I'm not going." Kenta interrupted. 

"But, why?" Juri asked confused. 

"The last time that I left Hirokazu, he ended up this. I just don't want anything else to happen to him." 

"But it wasn't your fault!" Juri disagreed frowning. "If you stayed with him then you would have gotten hurt too." 

"But at least he wouldn't have been alone!" 

 "We won't force you to go if you don't want to." Jenrya relented sighing. "I just wish that you would realize that, like Juri said, what happened to Hirokazu wasn't your fault." 

The blue haired, Tamer looked away. "Thanks." He said gratefully.

Jenrya nodded. _Without Takato, Kenta, Hirokazu and Ryou, Juri and I are the only Tamers going on this rescue. And because Juri no longer has Leomon, that leaves Terriermon, Guardromon, Guilmon, Lopmon, Monodramon Impmon and I to face the digimon. And with no knowledge of what he's planning, I just hope that we're strong enough to stop him and save Ruki._

Feeling uncomfortable, Janyuu cleared his throat. "If things are all taken care of, then I think that its time for us to leave." 

Juri and Jenrya nodded and made their way past Kenta to the waiting room doors. As Jenrya walked trough them, the doors to the Emergency Room suddenly buzzed open, and Takato came bursting out, his parents close behind him.

"Hey, wait! Don't leave without me!" Takato shouted loudly.

"Takato!" Juri couldn't believe her eyes as she ran towards him. "Are you…" She let her question hang in the air. 

The concern in her voice caused Takato to smile slightly. "I'm better and I have my Mom and Dad to thank for that." Takato looked at his parents, who smiled in return. 

"But what are we waiting for?" Takato asked excitedly. "Ruki's in trouble and we have to save her!" 

"He's right." Janyuu spoke with slight frustration. "We have to leave now."

Takehiro sighed and walked towards his son. "We can take my van, I'll make sure to get us there quickly." 

Mie gasped and her husband turned to her. "Don't worry honey, if Takato and his friends can go out and save the world, then I'm sure that I can drive them." 

His wife rolled her eyes. "Now I know where Takato gets it." Her expression softened. "Just be careful, the _both_ off you. If anything happens to either of you, I don't know what I'll do." 

"We will, Mom" Takato said. 

"Then let's go." 

The three Tamers, Janyuu and Takehiro then made their way to the exit. Takato stayed behind and placed a hand on Kenta's shoulder. "Hirokazu will get better, you'll see." 

"I hope so." Kenta answered unconvinced as Takato removed his hand and left the room. 

As she stared at the doorway where Jenrya had just stood, Mayumi pulled her daughter into her lap and held her tightly. Sighing, she whispered "Be careful." 

~*~

Cold. 

It was the very first thing that Ruki noticed as she slowly opened her eyes. Pain was the second, she discovered wincing. She could still feel the pain of Hekatemon's frozen hand biting into her skin. 

_I'm lucky he didn't take my head off._ She thought scowling. _He said he wanted me dead, but then why am I still alive? It wasn't as if I could get away or that Hirokazu could do anything to help me. _Any other time, that thought might have made Ruki laugh, but as she began to take in her surroundings, the crystalline images of frozen digimon, the all encasing ice, and laughter became nothing more than a memory. 

Everywhere she glanced she saw only ice. Ruki herself was suspended above the icy floor, by two icy bands encircling her wrists. The only distinct object in the area was fixated upon the ceiling. Like a macabre garden of bereavement, mass amounts of digimon were transfixed, their faces forever trapped in excruciating wails of torment. 

Ruki looked away from the horrific vision. _Hekatemon is sick._ Ruki thought furiously. _But it all makes sense. This place, the attractive ceiling decorations, it's like IceDevimon all over again. _

Ruki's eyes narrowed as she remembered the evil digimon's obsession with her. He had kidnapped her; frozen Guilmon and Terriermon, then attacked Renamon simply to convince her to become his Tamer. 

So far all Hekatemon had done was stalk and attack her. Ruki only hoped that Hirokazu had grown a brain while she was unconscious and gotten away while he was able to. 

A frigid wind blew past Ruki, causing her to shiver slightly. With a loud _whoosh_, Hekatemon appeared from the shadows, his pallid form almost indistinguishable against the ice. He wore a look of triumph that seemed mixed with slight agitation and his shredded wings flapped sporadically. 

Hekatemon floated in front of Ruki, his face only millimeters from hers. Ruki glared at him audaciously and was half tempted to show just how much she loathed being held captive. He stared at her distractedly before reaching out one of his hands and grabbing her face. "Let go of me!" Ruki growled, trying to pull away from Hekatemon's iron grasp. 

But she was unsuccessful and Hekatemon began to dig his sharp claws into the skin of her face. "Remain still." He ordered her softly. "Or I'll continue." As if she had any doubts, Hekatemon dug one finger in deeper into her flesh. 

Ruki clenched her teeth, yet made no sound. She stopped moving and allowed Hekatemon to pull her face directly before him. Despite his humanoid proportions, his face was all the more inhuman. The crimson eyes, the rows of teeth that were oddly omniscient of a shark, only increased his demonic appearance. 

"You do not scream." Hekatemon observed uncomprehendingly. "I cause you pain and yet you do not express the injury. You have strength and that is what he wanted." His face suddenly became wrathful. "Yet you denied him. He offered you the chance to stand by his side as the most powerful of your kind. Instead, you led him straight to deletion." 

Ruki narrowed her eyes. "IceDevimon was the one who decided to kidnap me, not the other way around." She said defiantly. "And I won't scream for anyone, especially not you." 

"Such insolence." Hekatemon snarled. "You forget to whom you're speaking to Makino Ruki. 

I am not IceDevimon and I will kill you." 

Ruki snorted. "Anything's better than listening to you fan worship him." _And I thought Hirokazu and Kenta were bad enough with Ryou._

Hekatemon's eyes narrowed. "In the Digital World a time ago, within the frozen ice, two Impmon met. They fought and were evenly matched. A pact was made; both would battle and gain power and when the time came they would do battle once again, this time to deletion. I fought and eliminated areas of digimon and became a Perfect. IceDevimon pined for you and remained an Adult. Then, he was destroyed by one unworthy. I deleted more enemies and entrapped others, honing my strength, until I became an Ultimate, ready to eradicate you and those who had absorbed the data of IceDevimon, data that was mine by right." 

"You're joking." Ruki spat unbelievingly. "You harassed me and attacked my friends over a stupid bet?  That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" 

"Your opinions mean nothing to me Makino Ruki." Hekatemon responded callously. He suddenly whipped the hand not holding her face in front of her. "Explain this." 

The pressure on her face tightened, causing Ruki to look at the digimon's metallic hand. Her eyes narrowed when she noticed the brownish red liquid staining the fingers and palm. _Blood. He kicked and tried to strangle me, so it can't be mine. That means…_

Hekatemon watched with satisfaction as Ruki's face paled. "It came from a human with strange devices upon his head. He thought to defeat me. He was a fool." 

Ruki's face blanched. _Strange devices? He has to mean Takato!_ Ruki's mood went from arrogant to panicked in an instant. "What did you do to him?" She snarled, trying to keep control over her emotions. It didn't matter that she was still furious with Takato for lying to her about Juri. _If Hekatemon hurt him, I swear that I'll make him regret it._ Ruki deliberated angrily.   

The reaction of Makino Ruki to the red liquid on his palm mystified Hekatemon. It mere had come from one of the humans who wished to save her. Perhaps that was the key. 

"He tried to injure me," He began slowly, trying to choose his words well. "And when he came too near, I tore his thin throat from his body. The other humans shed tears for him and the human that I had already frozen." Hekatemon smiled venomously. "Death came calling for two humans this day, but I will be more satisfied with yours." 

"You're lying." Ruki spoke softly. 

Hekatemon's face became cold. "Believe what you wish Makino Ruki. It is your decision." Inwardly he laughed at the fury that flashed across her face. He had planned upon killing her once she awakened, but he found this game to be more amusing and wished to draw it out further.

Ruki struggled against her bonds, trying to get free. "I don't believe you! Hirokazu and Takato aren't dead, you're making this up just to get to me!" 

"The blood of the male human gushed from his neck like a crimson river upon the grass and the other humans could do nothing but watch. You have already seen proof of that." Hekatemon growled convincingly. 

_He has to be lying._ Ruki thought frantically. _Hekatemon's trying to trick me, but it won't work! _But Ruki still felt doubt burn within her chest. Hirokazu had been left alone and defenseless and she clearly remembered what had happened when Takato had stood against Beelzebumon. 

He had been so unconcerned with his own safety, ready to do anything necessary to stop the evil Ultimate digimon. _Takato is so protective of his friends and if Hirokazu had really been hurt and I was unconscious, then he wouldn't have cared about what happened to him. He'd be obsessed with trying to save us, no matter what._

_She still does not cry._ Hekatemon thought with alarm. _I tell her that two of her human acquaintances are dead and yet she shed's no tears. _The digimon's eyes widened as he noticed something strange happening to her body. 

Her eyes flashed with fury and mouth was set. A blue light began to emancipate from her small body, shattering many small icicles around her. She glared at Hekatemon with pure hatred and the larger digimon stared back at her uncertainly. 

"I'll make you pay for hurting Takato and Hirokazu! I'll show you all my 'strength' and 'power' and make you regret ever meeting me." Ruki's voice was low and dangerous. "You can't keep me stuck here and when I get out, I'll make what Guilmon did to IceDevimon look like nothing compared to what I do to you!" 

_She's challenging…me?_ Hekatemon was confused. The blue light that surrounded Ruki grew brighter as she spoke and her young face was full of loathing and wrath. _Something is wrong._ Hekatemon thought seriously. As more of his crystals cracked, he could feel the energy touching him. It seemed dark, almost evil. _Something is very wrong._

~*~

The journey to the Yashimoto building was unusually silent. Takato could feel the beginnings of doubt set in_. What if this doesn't work? He wondered. How will we save Ruki if we don't have our digimon to help us?_

The Matsuda van slid slightly causing Jenrya to hit the side of it loudly. 

"Sorry about that." Takehiro said apologetically. 

Jenrya winced and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm okay. I think." 

"This means we're getting closer." Janyuu explained. "As long as we continue moving at this speed, the ice should be able to touch us, based upon how slowly it moves." 

The transition of road to ice, caused the van to slide erratically and caused the Tamers and adults to hold tightly to anything stationary. After minutes of chaos, the van finally stopped, mere feet away from its destination. 

Takehiro exhaled loudly. "Is everyone all right?" 

Janyuu moaned. "As well as could be expected." 

"We're fine." Takato answered. 

"Then you had better get to the building. Yamaki said that once you were all there, they would begin the activation of Shaggai." 

Janyuu opened his door and quickly climbed out of the van. He pulled the side door open and the Tamers filed out of it. Takato looked up at the immense, ice-covered building, his dread returning. But it was Juri who then noticed a flood of ice, slowly creeping towards them from the side. 

"Oh no." 

Jenrya glanced at her worriedly. "Juri, what's wrong?" 

She pointed off to the left. "The ice, it's getting closer!" 

"Great." Takato muttered.

"We didn't anticipate this!" Janyuu exclaimed.

Takehiro glanced at ice, then back at the van. "What if we tried to, lead it away? Would something like that work?" 

Janyuu considered it. "It just may. But then we would have to leave the children here alone…" 

"Don't worry Dad." Jenrya spoke. "We'll be fine." 

The ice continued on its trek, only inches away. 

"We better leave then. Takehiro stated. "Just be careful, all of you. If there's anyone who can stop this, it's you." He opened the door and stared the van. 

Janyuu reluctantly followed him. "We'll come back as soon as we can. Please make sure that you're all here waiting." 

Jenrya watched his father get into the van, his chest burning. _Dad, I won't let you down. I promise._

As the van pulled away, with the icy wave in tow, Takato, Juri and Jenrya made their way to the entrance of the frozen building. Jenrya eyed the structure closely, searching for signs of humans and digimon alike. Close to a large tree, Jenrya noticed something moving.

"Wait a minute." He whispered. "There's someone over there." 

"You guys weren't thinking of leaving without me again, were you?" A familiar voice called as a figure emerged from the darkness. "Who's going to be there to rescue you, for probably the fourth or fifth time when you get in over your heads?" The voice continued with mock seriousness. 

Takato's eyes widened with surprise as Akiyama Ryou, Mr. Legendary Tamer himself, casually strolled towards them from the shadow of the hulking, frozen tree next to the frozen entrance. 

Jenrya shook his head grinning. "We should have known that you'd show up." 

Ryou smiled good-naturedly. "When I saw that half of Shinjuku was slowly becoming a giant icicle, how could I resist? Though I'm a little surprised that Ruki didn't threaten me with bodily harm or regale me with her charming personality after my entrance." Ryou glanced around suspiciously. "Where is Ruki anyway?" 

"That's one of the reasons that we came here." Juri spoke up from beside Takato. "The digimon that's causing of all this attacked us at the park today. He hurt Hirokazu and took Ruki." 

"The technicians at Hypnos finally pinpointed that Ruki is located somewhere inside this building. Strangely enough, a digimon named IceDevimon also held her prisoner here a few months ago." Jenrya added. 

Ryou's eyes narrowed. "Then why are we just standing around out here, while this freak could be doing who knows what to Ruki?" He demanded heatedly. 

"We're waiting." Takato replied, finally getting over his initial surprise. "It's really good that you showed up Ryou, because Yamaki and the others are about to bring the digimon back into the Real World."   
  


"All right! It'll be great to see Monodramon again. But how long do we have to wait?"

Before anyone could answer, a bright green light abruptly shot into the sky. 

"I guess we won't have to wait anymore." Takato stated.

~*~

From within his office at Hypnos, Yamaki stared up at the jade light that illuminated the sky. _So far, things are going as planned._ "Are the Tamers in position?" He inquired. 

"Yes, they are." Reika answered. "Beginning operating sequence." 

"Operating sequence initiated." Megumi replied. "Countdown commencing." 

The Monster Makers watched the larger computer begin to glow eerily. Although most of the unnecessary objects had been removed, data printouts and papers began to blow around the room with wild abandon.  

"This is it." Babel was forced to yell over the wind. 

"Let's just hope that it works as well as we hypothesized." Daisy shouted in return.

~*~

The Tamers watched in awe as the green light was joined by several others. The dark night sky was filled with light, nearly hiding the slowly growing rift by its brightness. 

As the light began to intensify, the ground started to quiver in time. But while the area around it was shaking, the Yashimoto building remained intact. 

_Please, let this work! _Takato thought fiercely. _Let Guilmon come back so that we can play in the park and share Guilmon bread. Let Renamon and Ruki be a team again, and let us save her! Please!_

Jenrya watched as Takato's D-Ark began to glow with a crimson light. _I guess this is actually happening. Terriermon and Lopmon are really coming back. I've missed Terriermon so much, his jokes and even when he says something he shouldn't. This has to work. _He held his D-Ark tightly as it began to glow with a green light. 

Juri stared upward in amazement. _Leomon may be gone, but I still have Culumon and Impmon, Guilmon and all the other digimon as my friends. I miss them and want everyone to be happy again. _Juri's D-Ark started to glow with a golden light. 

_I know that my parents won't be thrilled about it, but I want Cyberdramon to come back. We were together for months and_ _watching him leave was one of the hardest things that I've ever done. _Ryou tightened his hold on his D-Ark as a pale blue light burst from it and mingled with the red, green and golden shades before flying towards the jade light in the sky. And from out of nowhere, a dark blue light suddenly joined the growing cornucopia of colors, causing the rift in the sky to grow wider. __

~*~

In the hospital waiting room, silence reigned. Kenta shifted in a hard orange chair, trying to get comfortable. _Maybe I should have gone with them. MarineAngemon always has neat ways to help out-_

A sudden cry from across the room interrupted his deliberations. Shuichon jumped from her mother's lap and pulled her D-Ark from her pocket. 

"Terriermon and Lopmon are coming home!" She squealed delightedly as her D-Ark began to glow magenta. 

"Whoa." Kenta whispered as he reached into his pocket and extracted his D-Ark. _They're really doing it. MarineAngemon, if you can hear me, I'm really sorry that I couldn't be with the others when you return, but we'll see each other really soon._

It was Rumiko who cried out when the pale purple light began to shine from Kenta's D-Ark and mingled with Shuichon's magenta beam across from it. Both beams flew upwards, shattering the small window as they passed into the night. 

~*~

Takato watched the sky anxiously, as two shafts of light flew towards the widening rift. _Where did those- It must have been Shuichon and Kenta! And with all of us working together, there's no way that we can fail! He thought to himself. _

The colorful display in the sky merged, creating an explosion of light that caused all those near it to cover their eyes. They did not see the rift separate, merely glimpsed multiple shadows bathed in green light.  

The illumination then began to dim, leaving the Tamers and the shadows in near darkness.

Takato was frozen. He opened his eyes slowly, slightly afraid of what he would see. But as he heard a familiar voice, he felt his fear slowly melt away as it was replaced by joy.  

"I don't think we're in the Digital World anymore." Guilmon stated with confusion. 

Terriermon sweatdropped. "Really? What was your first clue?" 

The red, saurian digimon put a clawed hand to his chin. "Um…" 

"Ya know this is nice and everything." Impmon growled angrily, "But get offa me!" 

Culumon giggled, his green eyes glowing and large ears retracting . "But your so soft, culu. And really, really bouncy." 

"Bouncy?!" Impmon yelped. 

"If you don't include his head." Terriermon added snickering.

"Where'd MarineAngemon, Lopmon, Guardromon and Renamon go?" 

"Maybe Impmon is sitting on them, culu!" 

"That's it!" The purple demon rose, knocking the other digimon away from him. 

Cyberdramon snarled, his crimson wings twitching. "Ryou is near." 

"Forget near," Ryou called out, unable to wait any longer, "I'm right next to you!" 

"I knew I smelled Takato!" Guilmon shouted exuberantly. 

"Guilmon…" Takato said softly. He began running across the frigid ground, unable to think of anything else than seeing his best friend. "Guilmon! I'm coming!" 

"Well, you don't have to yell about it!" 

Jenrya felt himself smile. _That could only be one person. _"Terriermon!" He yelled as he followed Takato, with Juri at his heels.  

It didn't take long for all the Takato to reach his partner, who practically crushed him in a hug. 

Guilmon smiled. "I told you we'd see each other again Takato."

Takato nodded, feeling tears slip down his face. "You were right." 

Guilmon tilted his head uncomprehendingly. "You're crying. Takato, are you sad?" 

Rubbing his eyes with embarrassment, Takato shook his head. "Nope, I'm just really happy that you're home again. That's all." 

Close to them, Jenrya stood holding Terriermon in his arms. The pudgy, rabbit like digimon grinned up at him. 

"So Jen, did you miss me?" He asked innocently. 

Jenrya hugged him. "Don't be silly, of course I missed you!" 

Terriermon's eyes bulged. "Yeah, but strangling me is a really strange way of showing it" 

At Terriermon's exclamation, Jenrya released his hold. "Sorry." 

"Momentai Jen." Terriermon said waving a hand. "I'll let it go this time, but only because I missed you too." 

Juri smiled watching the two of them. She wasn't prepared when Culumon suddenly decided to jump into her arms. 

"Juri!" The small digimon cried happily. "I missed you so much! In the Digital World there were no cream puffs and Impmon was mean when he dropped me in sake and said it was a milkshake." 

Juri looked at Impmon. "You dropped him in sake? Why?"

Impmon shrugged. "I was lookin' for a laugh. And it ain't like anything happened. Five minutes and badda boom! He was out. What a waste." 

Takato sighed. "Some things never change." 

"Yippee!" Culumon laughed from Juri's arms. "Now everyone is happy!" 

Impmon rolled his eyes with disdain. "Oh yeah, it's a regular party." 

Culumon frowned. "You're just mad because Renamon isn't here, culu." 

Juri giggled at the pink blush that began to creep up the Child digimon's face, despite his attempts to rub it away. "I am not." He snarled defensively. "But speaking of fox face, where is she anyway? She was with us when the light show started."  

Jenrya glanced around quickly, searching for Renamon's familiar silhouette. "MarineAngemon, Guardromon and Lopmon aren't here either…." He muttered distractedly. "What if there was some kind of glitch in the system? Dad said that the digimon would be fixed upon our positions, what if that meant _all_ of our positions?" 

"And with Kenta, Shuichon and Hirokazu in the hospital and Ruki inside-"  
  


"Why are they in the hospital? Are they sick?" 

Takato shook his head, his expression becoming serious. "No Guilmon, they aren't. An evil digimon came to our world and froze Hirokazu and kidnapped Ruki." 

"And that's why we have to go in there and get her back." Ryou said from beside his partner. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd say that things have a little too boring around here." 

Cyberdramon grunted in affirmation. "In the Digital World, there were no enemies worth fighting." 

"At least, not where we were." Guilmon added. 

"That's about to change." Jenrya responded. 

"Then what are we waiting for?" Ryou asked. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his many cards. "This ice looks pretty tough so…" He searched through his cards quickly, until finally settling upon one. 

"Card Slash! Hououmon!" He cried as he slid the card through his digi-vice. 

Everyone stepped back as Cyberdramon took flight, his wings taking on a crimson glow. "Crimson Flare!" He roared sending torrents of energy from his wings, into the ice. 

The building shuddered slightly, the ice cracking and revealing two doors. But as quickly as they had been revealed, the doors were once again covered.

"It wasn't strong enough." Juri observed. 

"This is going to be tougher than we thought." Takato replied. He reached for his cards, while Jenrya did the same. "I didn't realize how much I missed doing this." Takato said as he held the card that enabled evolution. "This is just like old times, right Guilmon?" 

"Right! His partner responded. 

"Less talkin', more action!" Impmon said. 

"Ready Terriermon?" 

"As ready as I'll ever be!" 

"Card Slash! Super Evolution Plug-In S!" Takato and Jenrya called out in unison. 

"Evolution_" The digi-vices spoke monotonously as red and green energy flowed over the two digimon. 

"Guilmon evolve!" The scarlet, dinosaur digimon became much larger and gained a shock of white hair, "Growmon!" 

"Terriermon evolve!" Where the small, rabbit digimon had stood, a bigger, more humanoid digimon, clothed in blue jeans, with a belt over his chest and two galit guns replacing his hands, "Galgomon!" 

"Let's try this again Cyberdramon!" Ryou shouted. "Card Slash! Hououmon!" 

"Card Slash! Fladramon!" Jenrya yelled whipping out another card. 

Galgomon's guns started to glow with burning flames as Growmon prepared to release the flaming blast in his mouth and Cyberdramon's wings flared.

"Knuckle Fire!" 

"Exhaust Flame!" 

"Crimson Flare!" 

The three fire-based attacks met in the air, becoming one enormous fireball before hitting the building. The ice shattered completely and the glass doors caved in completely due to the impact.

"Hurry, before it closes again!" Takato cried as the digimon de-evolved. The Tamers and their partners then ran inside quickly, doing their best to avoid falling shards of ice and glass. An instant after Ryou, who was the last person to enter, the ice crawled down from the top of the building, sealing the entrance.  

"Cutting it a little close wouldn't you say?" Jenrya questioned him. 

Ryou shrugged. "At least we're inside." He said grinning. 

~*~

Hekatemon had been staring at Makino Ruki for some time, uncomprehending of the blue light that had first surrounded her, then flashed from the device at her side. The only thing that he did know, was that he didn't like it. But he was most unwilling to allow her to see that. 

"And now, Makino Ruki," He paused dramatically while floating in front of her. "Now I will bring you your death." He raised one of his clawed hands and smirked as the familiar white radiance began to glow. 

Ruki watched him unflinchingly. _Whatever happens, I'm ready for it. _She refused to close her eyes, preferring to face death head on. But suddenly, she felt her chest begin to burn. Mixed with her anger and hatred, she felt something so wonderfully familiar. Ruki's eyes widened. 

"Renamon?" She whispered uncertainly. 

Hekatemon's shrill laughter snapped Ruki out of her musings as he shrieked, "Icicle Stunner!" 

Several jagged shards of ice then flew from his hand, aimed directly at Ruki's unshielded body. _This is it. _She thought clenching her teeth. 

"Fox Leaf Arrowhead!" A familiar voice called as numerous smaller, glowing crystals suddenly collided with the shards of ice, resulting in a small explosion before Hekatemon. The tall digimon stepped backward in astonishment, while Renamon's golden figure stirred from the shadowy ceiling and landed gracefully upon the frozen ground.  

For a moment, Ruki wondered if she were dreaming. She didn't speak, for fear that one word might make this vision vanish and instill in its place the desolate truth. _Renamon, you came back. I cried so hard, something that I NEVER do, after the battle with D-Reaper when you and the other digimon returned to the Digital World. I felt like I had been torn apart inside and it hurt much more than anything that D-Reaper could dish out. _

_There've been so many times that I've wished you had never left or that I could find some way into the Digital World to see you._ _But now that you've returned. A part of me still doesn't believe it, but was still was hoping for it nonetheless. And this time, I won't let you go, not without a fight!_

Hekatemon stared at the kitsune digimon before him. _Where did she come from?_ He searched his memory for some type of recollection and snarled as the knowledge finally came. _She belongs to Makino Ruki! She is her partner! _

"You witch!" Hekatemon bellowed furiously. "I will not allow you to deny me my vengeance. Makino Ruki will die by my hand!" 

Renamon's blue eyes narrowed to slits. "I don't think so." Her calm voice was filled with deadly malice. "No one hurts my Tamer, not while I remain standing." 

"Then you shall die as well! Frostbite!" Hekatemon screeched.

The ice on the floor seemed to rise up and flow towards Renamon with incredible speed. Not perplexed, she used her remarkable speed to teleport to the icicle holding Ruki. Before she could even blink, Renamon smashed the bonds enclosing her wrists and alighted to the ground with Ruki safely in her arms. 

"I knew you would come back." Ruki said simply. 

A slight smile lit her partner's usually neutral face. "Of course. I couldn't remain in the Digital World while you were in danger in the Real World. I'm not quite sure how I returned, but I do know that it was you who helped to guide me." 

Before Ruki could reply, another frozen wave crept towards the pair. Renamon held Ruki closer, then dexterously jumped into the air and flipped to the other side of the area. 

"But perhaps it would be best if we continued our reunion after we deal with this nuisance." Renamon said glaring at Hekatemon. 

Ruki followed her gaze and felt her cold hatred returning. "Good idea. But we're not going to finish him too quickly. He deserves to suffer." 

Renamon's eyes widened slightly at fury Ruki's voice. It was something that she had never heard before, not even when they had first become partners. "Ruki-"

"He killed Takato and Hirokazu." Ruki continued forebodingly, ignoring the interruption. "He deserves to pay for what he's done and I fully intend to make him." As she spoke, the sapphire light began illuminate her, while Renamon processed this new information. 

_This explains why Guilmon and Guardromon were acting so oddly._ Renamon reflected. _With _the deaths of their Tamers… Renamon clenched one of her fist tightly. _Even though Hirokazu may have irritated Ruki at times, he and Takato didn't deserve to die at the hands of this coward._ Renamon thought unaware of the similar blue light that began shine around her. _And if I hadn't intervened, he would have destroyed Ruki as well. Ruki is correct. He must pay for what he has done. _

When Renamon finally released Ruki, she grasped her D-Ark and looked at her partner, feeling uncertain. "Renamon, you know I won't force you to fight if you don't want-"

"Ruki," Renamon interrupted. "You are my partner and my friend. I will always fight by your side, no matter the consequence."  

Ruki nodded. "Right. Then let's do this." She said firmly. Holding her D-Ark close to her, she called out "Matrix Evolution Activate!" 

"MATRIX EVOLUTION_" 

The words appeared upon the D-Ark as the cerulean light burst from it and flowed over its owner. 

Hekatemon had been watching the exchange between Ruki and Renamon uncomprehendingly. He had never understood why IceDevimon had wanted to be under the control of a human, but as he watched human and digimon assimilate into one being, he couldn't help but be awed by the raw power that surrounded the digimon. 

"Renamon Dark Matrix Evolve!"

_How could human and digimon become one?_ He wondered. _The power that I feel… Could it possibly destroy me?_ He didn't like that thought. And as he watched the light begin to dim, and the digimon perform a graceful back flip into the air, he growled with aggravation. _They will not destroy me! It will not be allowed! _

He summoned all his power and concentrated upon the single humanoid form. "Frostbite!" 

"Kuzuhamon!" Two dual voices exclaimed. 

Then, the frigid wave of ice crashed into the new digimon, enveloping her completely in its frozen grip.  Hekatemon moved closer to the unmoving form, feeling relief, but no satisfaction. Makino Ruki's death was supposed to have been more torturous and lingering. He had wanted to make her scream and cry and beg for him to just kill her. But now… Hekatemon sighed. At least he still had the other humans who had been foolish enough to enter his domain to play with. He turned away from the frozen Kuzuhamon with a smile. _The game is not yet over._ He began to cackle manically, until a strange sound caught his attention. 

Almost fearfully, he slowly turned around to face his ice-entombed foe, his jaw nearly dropping when he noticed hairline cracks appearing upon the ice surrounding her._ Impossible. He thought while gawking.__ No digimon has ever escaped my ice. How could she? _

With one final crack, the ice surrounding Kuzuhamon shattered, causing Hekatemon to fold his wings around himself to avoid the sharp remnants. When he set his wings once again, he was finally able to truly see the form of the digimon who had dared to defy him.  

Kuzuhamon was humanoid, like Hekatemon and resembled Renamon's true Ultimate form Sakuyamon almost identically. But while the armor that protected Sakuyamon's body and mask were a brilliant gold, Kuzuhamon's armor was midnight blue, perhaps a reflection of the darkness that tainted the hearts of digimon and Tamer alike. 

Her face still held beauty, but unlike Sakuyamon's calming serenity, it was cold and distant, like that of the bitter wind blowing across the moonless night. 

The only true remnant of Sakuyamon was the bronze staff that she held. The multiple rings were ever present in its circular apex. She had used her staff to create the Shadow Sphere of light that had protected her from Hekatemon's ice attack.   

"Impossible!" Hekatemon yelped as she began to step closer. "This is unbelievable!" 

"Believe it." Kuzuhamon said coldly in the dual voices of Ruki and Renamon, as she drew ever closer. "Instead of evolving to Sakuyamon, who bears the duty and honor of protecting all those around her, your vile actions have released the fury within our hearts."

Hekatemon snarled, his face contorted with rage. "Those who dared to stand against me fell deserving of their fates." 

Within Kuzuhamon, in a sphere composed of data and dark light, Ruki's eyes narrowed. "The only one 'deserving of their fate' is you!" Kuzuhamon spoke with her voice. "You've murdered our friends for your own sick amusement and now it's time for payback." 

"Sakuyamon is a creation of light and beauty, I am vengeance incarnate." Kuzuhamon stopped walking and pointed her staff at Hekatemon. "And you will suffer for your crimes."

"The only one who shall suffer here is you!" Hekatemon screamed. He flapped his tattered wings and took to the air, dispersing numerous crystals of ice around him. Kuzuhamon watched the frigid digimon circle above her intently, waiting for him to make his move. 

Hekatemon abruptly dived downward, his sharp, metallic claws extended and ready to tear her to shreds. Unwilling to wait for the attack, Kuzuhamon jumped upward to meet him. "Now you shall feel the twin blades of Retribution and Despair!" She shouted swinging her staff and creating two arks of black light. 

Hekatemon dodged the blasts, and adjusted his course towards the descending Kuzuhamon. They met mid-flight, with Hekatemon's claws scraping Kuzuhamon's staff. A struggle ensured, with each trying to gain the upper hand, until with a swift motion, they separated, both landing on opposite sides of the room. 

He's tough. Renamon spoke from with Kuzuhamon. 

But we're tougher. Ruki answered undauntedly. 

Hekatemon breathed raggedly from his side of the room. Never would he have imagined that Makino Ruki or her digimon had so much power. He only knew what he had been told, and this  information had not been included. _No matter, He mused arrogantly. __I must only delay her for a time. Now that the intruders are in my lair, I have them. Makino Ruki, you have no idea of how drastically the situation will change. _

Both digimon turned and faced one another, preparing to make their next moves. Hekatemon raised both hands, aiming at Kuzuhamon. "Icicle Stunner!" He hissed, sending numerous chunks of ice hurtling towards her.  

"Pathetic." Kuzuhamon scoffed superciliously. "You'll have to do better than that." She held her staff before her and chanted "Shadow Sphere!" The dark light flared from its head and encased her within a protective barrier. 

"It's my turn." Renamon's voice uttered as the shield surrounding her dissipated. "Reverse Rice Cord" Several red dragon spirits formed and encircled Hekatemon, causing him to shriek and struggle as he was trapped by their sweltering flames. 

Ruki smirked evilly. "And there's a lot more pain where that came from." 

The dragon spirits vanished, leaving the burned Hekatemon shuddering in agony. He growled softly and glowered at Kuzuhamon. _Soon, very soon. You will regret this. _

~*~

The inside of the Yashimoto building was very similar to the outside, with its sparkling white floor and numerous icicles hanging from the ceiling. 

But aside from the icy decorations, the building's inside was incomplete, with numerous holes and, as Terriermon, who rode atop Jenrya's shoulders found out, spider webs.

"Whoa," The dog digimon spoke with disgust. "Who decorated this place? Dracula?" 

"You can say that again." Ryou muttered brushing the sticky web from his skin.

"This building was under construction." Jenrya said. "But the some of the construction workers that were working on it were murdered. Frozen solid by the digimon." 

Impmon's eyes narrowed upon hearing the news. He glanced at Juri, who walked next to Jenrya and Takato, while still holding Culumon. He had thought the as yet unnamed digimon had been bad new before, but now… Impmon knew from experience that if you wanted to cripple a team, you would go for its most vulnerable units. 

Impmon didn't like the idea of anyone coming after Juri, and deliberately, he moved closer to her. She wasn't his Tamer, but after everything they had been through together, he wasn't going to leave her to count on the others to save her if things got nasty. 

But Impmon had no idea just how bad things would become. 

As the Tamers and their companions continued walking down a long dimly lit hallway, searching for the stairs or a working elevator, Juri screamed. 

Her shriek caused everyone to halt and move to help her. 

As though she had stepped in quicksand, the area where Juri stood had started sinking and pulling her down along with it. 

"Juri, grab my hand!" Takato said reaching towards her. Impmon held onto her other free hand, but was unable to budge her. 

"On no, culu!" Culumon screeched. "We're sinking!" 

"No! Ya think?" Impmon snapped at him in frustration. _This isn't gonna work! He thought to himself. Takato, Jenrya and Ryou were trying to free Juri, but even the three of them weren't strong enough. Cyberdamon and Guilmon remained in back, their sharp claws making them useless, unless they wanted to turn Juri's arm into shish kabob. _

When Juri was waist deep in the floor, Impmon felt something wrap around his foot, causing him to yelp in surprise and release his hold on Juri's hand as he was quickly dragged under. 

"No, Impmon!" Juri cried out. Her face was full of fear and with one final tug, she and Culumon were ripped from the Tamers and pulled under. 

"Juri!" Takato called as he reached towards the floor. But his hands hit only cold linoleum, it was as if nothing had ever been there.

But he didn't have long to lament their losses, as seconds later Jenrya, who stood near a wall to get his bearings, felt something wrap around his waist. 

"No." He whispered. 

Hearing his partner, Terriermon turned around. "We just got back together Jen, you just can't leave me now." He yelled as he tried to pull him away from the wall. 

Ryou's eyes widened. "Takato!" He shouted the goggled Tamer's name as he ran to help. This time, the Tamers and Terriermon were clutching his partner rather than Juri but to no avail. With only his head visible, Jenrya said, strangely calm, "Don't worry about me. Find a way to save Juri and Ruki." 

And with that he vanished, with Terriermon in tow, leaving Takato, Guilmon, Ryou and Cyberdramon wholly alone.

~*~

Notes: About Kuzuhamon, she's an actual digimon, Data type, Ultimate level and her attacks, which were graciously provided by DigiDestined of Courage, are Womb Mandala and Reverse Rice Cord. Shadow Sphere and Blazing Wind were created by me. You'll more of her personality in the next chapter. And sorry if the beginning of this chapter was dull, it's pretty hard trying to encompass everything that's happened, but the next chapter will be simpler and have more action. 

I planned making Ruki embrace her "dark side" early on in this story, and that's also the reason for Hekatemon's odd name. Instead of using NeoDevimon or another existing digimon, I wanted to do something original. In Greek mythology, Hecate or Hekate is considered the patron goddess of witchcraft, who often traveled by night in the company of baying hounds. 

It was said that she, the goddess Selene and the goddess Artemis represent the three phases of the moon. Selene represented the light of the moon, Artemis represented the moon on Earth and Hecate represented the darkness of the moon. The full moon, the crescent moon and the new moon. Throughout Tamers, Ruki and Renamon have been firmly connected to the moon, during their evolutions to Taomon and Sakuyamon and Ruki's theme song "Moon Fighter." 

In my story, Hekatemon stalked and kidnapped Ruki, and then told her how he "murdered" Takato and Hirokazu, finally leading her to the darkness that had been building throughout the story. I know it's a bit odd, but that isn't unusual for me. 

(Tentative) Chapter preview: 

"Blazing Wind!" Kuzuhamon shouted sending a shower of black crystals tearing through Hekatemon's body. 

"What's wrong Hekatemon?" Kuzuhamon taunted the injured digimon. "You usually find pain to be so amusing, why aren't you laughing?" 

"No! Please stop!" Juri cried covering her eyes in horror. 

_She's gone too far. Jenrya thought fearfully. "Ruki, stop this!" He shouted. _

Kuzuhamon glared at him. "He has inflicted so much pain upon us, I'm only repaying the favor." 

"What he's done to Hirokazu is unforgivable, but you can't do this!" Jenrya argued. "I know you Ruki, you aren't a cruel person."   
A wicked smile crossed Kuzuhamon's face. "If you think that I am cruel now, you haven't seen anything yet." She began to raise her staff…


	8. Revelations

Well things are slowly drawing to a close. 

**Terriermon**: You have to kidding! Juri was sucked into the floor, Jen and I were pulled through the wall and you're saying that things are ending!?

I said slowly! It all depends upon how long these next chapters are.

**Terriermon:** And then…

Then, I may begin working on a sequel. 

**Terriermon:** Sequel? You didn't think that you tortured us enough in this story, so you decided to start another one?  

Well, not right away. Right now I'm working on my humor fic, The Official Fanfiction University of Digimon.

**Terriermon:** You write humor? (laughs)

Yes I do. Anyway, I hope that everyone is in character and that you enjoy this chapter. 

Revelations

The feeling of something sharp and cold pressing into her back awakened Juri, causing her to sit up quickly, then hiss with pain over the soreness that she felt flow through her body. 

It took her a moment to comprehend her surroundings, and while still sitting down, she glanced upwards. A flat white ceiling greeted her, all trace of the adhesive substance that had dragged her, Impmon and Culumon down into their present location was gone, vanished as though it had never been. 

_But that's impossible!_ She thought to herself astounded. _We all came in here that way, how could it have just disappeared?  _

Still taken aback, Juri finally stood shakily and glanced around, her eyes searching for her digimon companions and for signs of the other Tamers. Her feet hitting the floor were the only sounds in the room, and as Juri drew closer to its end, she noticed the still forms of Culumon and Impmon. 

Her heart beat wildly as she ran towards the two unconscious digimon. _I hope they're not hurt._

"Culumon!" She said as she picked up the small digimon. "Can you hear me?" Upon hearing the sound of Juri's voice, Culumon blearily opened his eyes. 

When he finally saw her, his bright eyes widened. "Juri!" He cried hugging her. "I had a nightmare, culu, that in a big scary place, you, me and Impmon were eaten by the floor!"

"It wasn't a nightmare." Impmon snarled close beside Culumon and Juri. "How the heck do you think we got down here, an elevator?" The demon digimon pulled himself from the floor, shaking his head to clear it. 

"Do you-do you think that Takato and the others are down here?" Juri asked no one in particular. 

Impmon shrugged. "Who knows? But since someone went to a whole lotta' trouble to separate us, probably not." 

"I don't like it here!" Culumon whimpered and drew closer to Juri. 

"Me neither." Juri replied. "But we should try and find the others, they might need us when they fight the digimon." 

"Might?" Impmon snorted sardonically. "This guy made the floor attack us, I'd say they'll definitely need our help." He began walking, intent upon finding a way out of the room. Juri and Culumon followed close behind him, their eyes flickering to the wall, where icy growths created garish shadows that only increased the nightmare quality of their vicinity. 

As they approached the end of the room, Juri noticed a large doorway faintly lit by two small lamps. When they were a scant distance away, Culumon began to shiver slightly. Shifting him in her arms, Juri tried her best to make him warmer. But once directly under the doorway, it became apparent that her efforts were in vain.

"What's wrong Culumon?" She inquired worriedly. 

Culumon looked at her, fear burning in his eyes. "There are digimon in there! Mean ones!" 

The red haired, former Tamer stepped forward, trying to see into the darkness beyond. But as multiple red eyes began to glow, Juri changed her mind and moved back. But the eyes simply followed her, creeping out from the darkness. 

Impmon grinned maliciously. "Finally, some action." The situation with the floor had done little to improve his already soured mood and he was glad that he had something to take his relieve his frustration. "Get behind me." He instructed Juri and Culumon as the shadow cloaked digimon came closer. 

"Iceball Bomb!" Multiple voices screamed as several chunks of ice the size of small boulders flew towards the trio. 

Impmon wasted no time evolving to Beelzebumon Blast Mode and making sure that Juri was a close by. "So you wanna play games eh?" He snarled as the frozen rocks flew above his head. "How about catch?" He said as he crossed his arms before him and smirked as his metallic claws took on a purplish glow. 

"Darkness Claw!" Beelzebumon roared sending volleys of purple energy from his claws soaring at the flying projectiles, shattering them into powder that fell harmlessly upon the group. 

It was then that the shadow digimon decided to reveal themselves by rushing towards the Ultimate Demon Lord, growling with feral madness and red eyes that blazed with hatred. Their small, white bodies were segmented, making them seem like as if they were carved from the very ice that had hidden them. 

"I should've known." Beelzebumon muttered. "In a place like this, there'd have to be Icemon. Even though they're small, their Ice Strike still packs a punch. And their Iceball Bomb attack is as cold as they are." 

Juri held Culumon closer as the Icemon ravaged Beelzebumon, using their stubby hands to claw and hit him, while he did his best to prevent them from advancing any further. He swore furiously as a block of ice struck him in his chest and mentally cursed D-Reaper and even Dukemon for the destruction of his Berenjenas and his larger gun. 

The Icemon weren't hurting as much as irritating him by trying to get to Juri, something he wouldn't permit to happen. _Enough of this!_ Using his claws, he smashed several Icemon into the walls beside him, causing their bodies to dissolve into fragments of data. 

"Darkness Claw!" He shouted, launching the purple energy at the remaining Icemon, reducing them, like their companions, to nothing more than data. Instinctively he felt the need to claim the data, lest it vanish uselessly instead of being used to strengthen him. But the memory of the last time he had absorbed data, the data of Juri's deceased partner Leomon, halted him. 

Beelzebumon watched the data float upward and shook his head dismissively. _It's not like I needed it._ _The data of Adult digimon won't help defeat the 'mon who separated us. _But a gust of wind and a flash of light caused his three eyes to widen as the loose data was literally blown into a wall. _What the hell is goin' on here?_ He wondered to himself, puzzled. 

Feeling uncomfortable, Beelzebumon beat his large black wings, causing numerous clumps of ice to strike the ground and shatter. When he was finally satisfied, he glanced at Juri and the slightly frenetic Culumonbehind him. 

"You guys all right?" 

Juri hesitated to respond, the destruction of the Icemon still fresh in her mind. It reminded her of his assaults against the Tamers, quick and merciless. _But that was a long time ago,_ She reminded herself reproachfully. _Beelzebumon was just protecting Culumon and I and I did forgive him for what he had done._

"I'm okay." She finally answered. "But Culumon isn't." The Baby II digimon was still in her arms, shaking like a leaf despite the absence of visible enemies. 

Beelzebumon stared at the small digimon uncertainly. Something weird was happening and he didn't like it, not at all. But though he would never admit to actually having a fondness for the disgustingly too-cute, creampuff-ingesting digimon, he didn't like to see him suffer the way that he was either. 

"We should get moving." Beelzebumon advised gruffly. "Next thing ya know the ceiling'll fall down on top of us or somethin'." 

Juri nodded, "I hope that Takato and the others are all right." 

As the three proceeded towards the doorway, a loud rumbling behind them caught their attention. They turned, and when the rumbling ceased, a tall figure loomed, stepping forward from an icy mound, to meet them. 

_I just had to open my big mouth._ Beelzebumon thought warily, resisting the urge to roll his eyes heavenward. _Well, whatever it is, I can handle it. It'll take much more than a bunch of Icemon and some overgrown shadow to intimidate me. _He clenched his hands, his anticipation building. 

Juri couldn't take her eyes of the solitary figure. There was something about the way he moved, it seemed so familiar to her. And when he finally stood before her, his body awash in the dim light, her eyes widened. 

The digimon was massive, strong muscle flexed with every motion and numerous scars marred his pallid flesh. But it was his eyes, burning, ravening, pools of hellfire; Juri could almost feel them boring into her. 

Beelzebumon was less impressed with the new arrival. He had been slightly offended that their enemy had thought little enough of him to send packs of Adult digimon to face him, but this…this was almost a blast from his not so wonderful past. 

"He looks like Leomon." Juri whispered in shock beside him. 

The figure growled at her statement. "Not Leomon." He rasped. "Panjamon."  
 

~*~

There was some type of insect buzzing and Jenrya deeply wished that it would stop. He was in the middle of an incredible dream, but the irritating sound was drawing him out of it.

"Jen! Jen! C'mon this isn't the time to take a nap! We still have to rescue Ruki and stop the walking Popsicle before Shinjuku becomes a giant snowcone! Jen!"   
  


Terriermon stared at his barely conscious friend. "I didn't want to do this, but you're not really giving me a choice." He climbed off his partner's chest and reached his small hands into the one place that would get the job done. "Well, here goes!" 

Seconds later, Jenrya was practically howling…with laughter. He felt Terriermon's small, clawed hands tickling him beneath his armpits, the one place that he, who was well trained in the marital arts against many forms of attack, had no resistance. 

When he was positive that Jenrya was fully awake, Terriermon stopped tickling him. 

"Terriermon, what was that for?" Jenrya sputtered trying to stand. 

Terriermon shrugged. "You're the one who wanted to go beddy-bye. And it's not like I didn't warn you." 

Jenrya sweatdropped. "But you did it while I was still asleep." 

"It could have been worse," Terriermon spoke cheerfully. "I _could_ have melted the ice and put it on you, but that would have been mean." 

"Something you never are." Jenrya replied dryly. 

"Right." Terriermon said nodding. "But don't you think we should be looking for Ruki and everyone else?"  

Jenrya put a hand to his head, still feeling slightly drowsy. "I almost forgot about them. I just wish that we hadn't been separated." 

"No kidding. We don't even know where we are, how are we supposed to find them?" 

Taking his D-Ark in his hand, Jenrya pushed one its buttons, causing it to give a loud beep. "Wherever they are, they'll hear this and try and meet us. We can also use the signal to track them as well." Jenrya looked at the bland hallway before them and the wall behind them. "And right now, the only way we can go is straight, so we better get moving." 

"Sounds like a plan." Terriermon replied approvingly. "There's just one thing that bothers me." 

"And that would be…" Jenrya questioned as he scooped his partner into his arms. 

Terriermon climbed onto his shoulder. "What if the wall decides it wants to snack on us again?" 

"I guess that we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it." 

"Or when it lands on top of us."

Jenrya began walking down the skinny hallway. "Hopefully it won't." They continued walking in unaccustomed silence, until Terriermon couldn't stand it any longer. 

"So Jen, anything interesting happen while I was gone?" 

"This is a bit weird to talk about now, given the situation, but not really. Things were a bit boring. And very quiet." Jenrya said with a small grin. 

Terriermon shifted on his shoulder, making sure that his long ears didn't hit Jenrya in the face. "Quiet? Where's the fun in that?" He responded disapprovingly. 

"He's sitting on my shoulder after waking me up by tickling me." Jenrya answered. His face suddenly took on an expression worthy of Impmon. "Shuichon's missed you a lot Terriermon. She even came up with a new game for you and Lopmon to play, Prince _and_ Princess Prettypants. I wasn't going to let her, but after that tickle attack…"

Terriermon's eyes widened with terror. "I was only trying to help! You wouldn't really let her do it, would you Jen?"

Jenrya pretended to consider it. "I don't know, maybe…" He trailed off, staring ahead. Terriermon followed his gaze and his eyes widening. Before them stood an enormous doorway, that was covered in an immensely thick sheet of ice. Beside it, an unfinished elevator shaft gaped open, and in front of the doorway stood two odd statues. 

They were large in stature, draconian in nature, with no visible eyes, razor-sharp claws and two avian wings covered in frozen feathers. Jenrya cautiously moved closer, careful to avoid the elevator shaft, to get a superior glimpse at the clear wall behind them. 

"Do you think that's a good idea Jen?" Terriermon asked, concern evident in his voice. 

Glancing at his D-Ark, Jenrya noticed a second light blinking on it, as he got closer to the doorway. "I'm sure that Ruki is in there. And if she if, then we really don't have any choice." 

Trying his best to maneuver his way between the large beings, with Terriermon clutching his neck tightly, so as not to fall, Jenrya was halfway between them, when his D-Ark began beeping wildly. 

An image of one of the "statues," one that looked far more animated appeared on its screen and Jenrya read its statistics aloud. 

"Gargomon. Type Virus, Armored level. Though the belt on its body prevents it from committing evil, its Black and White Statue attacks reflect its dual nature." 

In response to his voice, the two Gargomon opened their eyeholes, and fluttered their wings. Jenrya jumped away from them, as he noticed their 'eyes' glowing crimson. The Gargomon then began to advance on him, growling ferociously, and barring their jagged teeth.

"I told you this wasn't a good idea." Terriermon said unnecessarily as he hopped from Jenrya's shoulders and stood in front of him

Jenrya held his D-Ark tightly and searched through his deck of cards "And you were right." He replied he found the card that he was searching for "But we should probably fight now and gloat later." 

"Card Slash!" Jenrya yelled scanning the card through his digi-vice. "Super Evolution Plug-In S!" 

"Evolution_"

Green light burst from his D-Ark and surrounded Terriermon. "Terriermon, Evolve!" When the light cleared, in place of the small dog digimon stood a larger, weapons laden digimon. "Galgomon!" 

The two Gargomon wasted not time in attacking, coming from both sides towards Gargomon, with claws ready to strike. 

"Gattling Arm!" Galgomon screamed sending blasts of green light flying at the two digimon. The Gargomon both took flight, circling in the air avoiding the Adult's attack. 

"Black Statue!" They cried in unison, sending black shades resembling themselves on either side of Gargomon. 

"A little help here Jen!" The Adult shouted, as the attacks were mere inches away from him. 

Jenrya shuffled through his deck quickly. "This should help. Card Slash! WarGreymon's Brave Shield!" The shield suddenly appeared, as both attacks crashed onto its surface. One of the Gargomon roared as his attack was reflected back at him, while the other attack smashed into a wall. 

The second Gargomon swooped down as the shield finally vanished. 

"Card Slash! High Speed Plug-In B!" 

Galgomon ran to meet him, his speed greatly increased. "Dum Dum Upper!" He yelled, one of the gattling guns on his arm glowing with power. Unable to break its dive, the Gargomon was smashed in his jaw by an uppercut and sent sprawling. 

"You'd think that when you hit these guys, they'd actually stay down!" Galgomon groaned as the other Gargomon prepared to attack. 

_This isn't working. Jenrya thought worriedly. We can't become SaintGalgomon, the building would be unable to support us and could collapse with us in it. And even Rapidmon is pushing it. But… Separately the Gargomon are only on Armored level, but together, they seem as strong as a Perfect._ He silently willed for a Blue Card. _I just hope this works._

"Black Statue!" 

Jenrya's eyes widened. "Gargomon!" A Blue Card then materialized in his hand. Without hesitation he ran it through his D-Ark. 

"Card Slash! Matrix Evolution!" 

"Matrix Evolution_" The D-Ark stated monotonously as the words appeared on its surface. 

"Galgomon, Evolve!"

Surrounded once again by light, Galgomon's body began to change. His proportions lengthened as green armor appeared on his arms, legs and chest. His face was covered in a similar mask, that left only his eyes visible and his large guns reformed into missile launchers. 

"Rapidmon!" 

The two Gargomon regrouped and stared at their new opponent warily. 

"It's time for a little payback." Rapidmon said smirking. "And for you guys, I'll make it double." 

~*~

"We're going in circles." 

"Really, how can you tell?" 

"I can smell us!" 

"It isn't like I have a map or something! I'm just going my where D-Ark leads us." 

"It is leading the wrong way." 

Takato and Ryou had been having an argument about going in circles, with Guilmon and Cyberdramon, well mostly Guilmon adding their own thoughts to it. They had been searching, without finding anyone, and it was beginning to take its toll on the two Tamers. 

Both of their D-Arks had began to beep fifteen minutes prior, and since then the Tamers and their digimon had been following the signal. But far, the only thing they had found were abundant dead-ends. 

"By the time we find Ruki, we might be too late." Takato thought aloud. 

Ryou turned to him. "If you think that you could do better, than go ahead." He snapped angrily. 

Takato glared at the other Tamer. "I didn't say that." 

"But you meant it." 

Guilmon stared at the two Tamers worriedly. "Takato, why are you and Ryou fighting?" 

Both Tamers looked at the saurian digimon. "We're not fighting!" They spoke in unison.

Guilmon's eyes widened. 

Takato finally sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm just really worried about Ruki, Juri and Jen." 

Ryou nodded. "So am I." 

The two Tamers and their partners resumed walking down the ominous hallway. Feet and claws hitting the floor was the only sound until Takato spoke. 

"Ryou," He began. "What do you think of Ruki?" 

The Legendary Tamer nearly stopped in his tracks. "Ruki? She's-Ruki. Sarcastic, demanding, cold, intelligent." He shrugged. "What can I say? She's just Ruki." 

"But do you like her?" Takato continued hurriedly.   
  


"Of course I like her." Ryou glanced at Takato, whose expression was unreadable. "Why are you asking me this?" 

Takato's eyes widened and he placed a hand behind his head. "No-no reason." He stammered. "I was just wondering." 

Ryou was unconvinced. "Really. What do you think of Ruki, Takato?" 

Feeling himself blush, Takato turned away. "Like you said, she's Ruki." 

"And do _you _like her?"

Takato could feel his face burning. "Yes, I mean she's our friend, why wouldn't I like her?" 

Ryou stared at the younger Tamer, for a moment. "You do like her, don't you? As more than a friend." 

Glancing at Ryou, Takato sighed. "Yeah, I do. Don't you?" 

"Me?" Ryou replied with amusement. "Sorry Takato but I think you have the wrong idea. Sure, I flirt with her sometimes, but it's mostly to get her mad. She's so different from the girls back in Hokkaido. Back there, the girls usually swarm me trying to get an autograph, picture or something. Some of them even scream that they love me and want to marry me!" Ryou shook his head. "But Ruki isn't like that, I think she'd cut off her arm before she'd say she was going to marry me." 

Unintentionally, Takato gave a sigh of relief. Ruki had told him that she didn't think of Ryou, but he had needed to be sure that he didn't think of her as something more than a friend either.

"Takato, are we there yet?" Guilmon asked curiously. 

He had remained silent throughout Takato and Ryou's conversation, mostly because he didn't really understand the subject matter, only knowing that Ruki was somehow involved. 

But it was Cyberdramon who answered, his grating voice sounding like a primal snarl. 

"We are here." 

Though they had been too absorbed in their discussion to notice, a vast doorway emerged before them, its surface untouched by any ice. One large mound of ice stood beside it, ominously blocking any access. 

Before either Tamer could speak, a fierce growl cut through the air, as the knoll of ice began to crack, revealing a new figure 

Takato clutched his D-Ark, as the figure shook the ice from his body, much like a dog and growled at the group.   
  


Its red eyes shined eerily, a stark contrast from the black and gold of the armor covering its quadruped body. It opened its mouth and howled, barring razor-sharp fangs that matched the claws on its four legs. 

"Metal Garurumon." Takato read. "Ultimate level, Virus type. It uses its Cocytus Breath attack to freeze its enemies, then its Garuru Tomahawk blows them to pieces." 

"Not the nicest digimon." Ryou said dryly while holding his D-Ark. "But nothing that we can't handle. Right Cyberdramon?" 

The cybernetic dragon grunted in response. 

"You're not going to take him on by yourself, are you?" Takato inquired. "Guilmon and I are here to help-"

"Not this time." Ryou cut in. "As much as I would love to burst in there and tease Ruki about saving her yet again, this guys looks pretty tough. If we both stay here and fight him, whoever kidnapped her could kill her, while we were distracted. So who better to rescue her than the gogglehead of her dreams?" 

Takato blushed at the last part of Ryou's statement. "Thanks," He finally relented. "But be careful! We've already lost Hirokazu and Ruki, we don't need to lose you too." 

Ryou grinned cockily. "Hey don't forget that you're talking to The Legendary Tamer. I've survived in the Digital World for ten months and helped destroy D-Reaper. This guy should be a piece of cake." 

Takato mirrored his grin. "Good luck." He stared at the gaping doorway, then turned to his partner. "Come on Guilmon, let's go help Ruki!" 

As Takato and his partner ran through the doorway, the viral Metal Garurumon lunged for them, only to have his neck forcefully grasped by Cyberdramon's metallic claws. 

Cocytus Breath!" Metal Garurumon roared, aiming a blast of artic light at the entranceway, but Cyberdamon wrenched his throat, causing the attack to explode harmlessly into the wall. 

~*~

Beelzebumon watched Panjamon warily, as the Perfect digimon stared him down. Taking down a bunch of brainless Adults was one thing, but a Perfect, especially one that kept glancing at Juri like she was an entrée, well that was a different matter. 

Juri held Culumon tightly as the Panjamon gave an ear splitting roar. _He may look a little like Leomon, but not exactly. And Leomon wasn't as wild or evil._

"I will destroy you." Panjamon rumbled. "Then I will devour your weak companions." 

Culumon made a face. "Devour? What's that mean, culu?" 

Juri blanched. "It means that he wants to-to eat us!" 

Retracting his ears, Culumon became frantic. "Oh no, you don't want to eat us! We don't taste very good!" 

Panjamon smiled, showing his fangs. "I beg to differ." 

Beelzebumon snorted derisively. _Just because he's evil, didn't mean he has to act like an idiot. Pathetic.   _

"Juri," He whispered. "When I distract him, you and Culumon get into that room over there. It'll be a lot safe in there than out here." 

Juri stared at the Panjamon fearfully. The last thing that she wanted was to end up on the wrong end of the Perfect digimon's claws or teeth. But she still disliked having to stay out of the way, for fear of being hurt; she was a Tamer after all. _Or had been,_ she thought unhappily. 

But knowing that she'd only serve as a distraction, Juri nodded. 

"Darkness Claw!" Beelzebumon aiming the purple energy at Panjamon's chest. The Beast Man digimon roared as the attack struck him in his chest. Juri took advantage of the diversion, and ran past him. 

Panjamon snarled and moved to intercept Juri and Culumon, but his plan was cut short when Beelzebumon yanked him backwards by his mane. 

"Ice Beast Fist!" Panjamon screamed sending a white lion's head blazing from his fist. Beelzebumon dodged, only to find himself directly in front of Panjamon's large fist. 

With one quick motion, Beelzebumon slashed Panjamon's face with his claws, leaving the Beast Man digimon clutching what had been his eyes. 

The lion digimon howled in agony and when he suddenly ran at him, Beelzebumon began to power up his attack. He crossed his arms and waited for the perfect opportunity. Panjamon blinded, continued to charge forward, unknowing of his fate.

"Darkness Claw!" Beelzebumon cried out and the purple energy flew from his claws straight into Panjamon's body, reducing it to data. Seconds later, the data was once again drawn into the wall. 

"Nobody tries to eat my friends." Beelzebumon muttered. 

From within the elevator shaft, Juri could not longer hear sounds from the battle. _Does that mean its over?_ She wondered.  

Her thoughts were interrupted as Beelzebumon appeared above her. 

Culumon, unable to contain his enthusiasm any longer, almost jumped out of her arms. "Yay! Beelzebumon beat the mean digimon! Now he won't eat us, culu!" 

Rolling his eyes, Beelzebumon glanced upwards. The shaft was free of ice, and a lot easier to move through than the wall. It might take some time, but it was probably safer. 

"I've got an idea." He said as he reached into the pit and extracted Juri and Culumon from it. Carefully, he held her in his claws, trying not to stab her and began to flap his wings. Then slowly, the trio began to ascend. 

"We're going up!" Culumon said cheerfully.   

~*~

_What will it take to end this?_ Jenrya mused watching Rapidmon face the two Gargomon. _It seemed that no matter how many Rapid Fire attacks he uses, they still keep getting up again. We're wasting time. Ruki, Takato, Ryou and Juri could be in trouble, while we're busy with these two. _

Rapidmon flew overhead, dodging numerous "Black Statue" attacks. 

"I don't know about you Jen, but I'd say that this is getting really annoying." He called down to his partner. 

Jenrya nodded. "I know what you mean. They way they both keep working together, whenever you hit one, the other…" A plan began to form within his mind as he watched the Gargomon position themselves on opposite sides of Rapidmon. 

"Rapidmon!" 

"I'm way ahead of you Jen." The cyborg answered. "Hey! Over here, you sad excuse for ice sculptures! Come and get me!" 

"Black Statue!" Two blasts of dark energy surged towards the stationary Rapidmon. And at the last possible moment, his rockets charged, sending him out of range of the attacks. 

"Too slow!" He shouted. "Rapid Fire!" Two missiles flew from the launchers on his hands directly at the Gargomon, combining with the two dark attacks and creating two enormous explosions as they impacted the Armor digimon. 

"Direct hit!" Rapidmon said smugly as he dropped down next to Jenrya. 

The Tamer and his partner stared at the ice-frozen doorway as miniscule cracks began to appear. With a loud CRASH, the ice hit the ground, leaving the entrance clear. 

"It took long enough!" Rapidmon said exasperatedly. 

"I'll agree with you there." Jenrya replied. "I just-"

A loud scraping from the open elevator shaft interrupted him, and he and Rapidmon turned towards it. 

"What now?" Rapidmon moaned. 

The scraping grew louder and while Rapidmon stood ready to attack, the familiar shadowy form of Beelzebumon, with Juri in his arms, emerged from inside. 

"Juri?" Jenrya uttered with surprise. 

She stared at him, her expression similar. "Jen?" Beelzebumon put her down and she ran towards him. 

"Thank goodness that you're all right!" Jenrya exclaimed. "After seeing you, Impmon and Culumon pulled through the floor, I wasn't sure if you'd be okay." 

"Well, we met some mean digimon and the big lion wanted to eat us, culu. But Beelzebumon made him go away." Culumon said gleefully. 

"Eat you? Why would he want to do that?" Rapidmon asked. 

Beelzebumon shrugged. "He came from a block of ice, does he need a reason?" 

"I'm sure you'd know all about that, _Impmon_." Rapidmon retorted. 

The Demon Lord gritted his teeth and glared at Rapidmon. "You still can't get the name right. Is it hearing problems or just stupidity?" 

Jenrya sweatdropped. "We should make some type of rule about having those two in the same room together." 

While the two digimon continued exchanging insults, Juri looked at the doorway, as it began to glow. "Something's happening." 

Jenrya followed her gaze. "It's closing! We have to get in there now, otherwise we may not be able to once it's frozen!" 

Jenrya and Juri, who still held Culumon, quickly ran inside the room, with Rapidmon and Beelzebumon at their heels. But with incredible speed, a layer of ice formed, sealing the two digimon outside. 

~*~

An instant after he had crossed through the entranceway, Jenrya knew that he was in trouble. He glanced at Juri beside him and could tell that she felt the same. 

"This is bad. Without Rapidmon and Beelzebumon here with us, we're perfect targets." Jenrya said worriedly. 

Juri nodded. "But I'm sure that they won't be out there too long. They'll find a way to get in." 

"You're probably right-"

"Womb Mandala!" A familiar voice screamed interrupting him. 

From the far end of the enormous room, a dark blue light flashed, sending a tall, pallid form tumbling into a wall and causing several jagged icicles to come crashing down upon it. 

The familiar voice laughed maliciously, and someone who looked similar to Sakuyamon, except for being clothed in blue armor, stepped out from the shadows. 

"Is that, Ruki?" Juri whispered. 

The sound of a voice caused Kuzuhamon to glance throughout the room, her expression of triumph becoming one of annoyance when she focused upon Jenrya and Juri. 

"What are you doing here?" She spoke crossly. 

"We came here to help!" Jenrya shouted, still astonished with her new appearance. 

Kuzuhamon smirked arrogantly. "I don't need your help." She spoke with Ruki's voice. "I have Renamon with me and don't want or need help from any of you." 

_This is crazy!_ Jenrya thought worriedly. _It's like she regressed back to the way she was when we first met her, and though she may not think of digimon as merely tools for fighting any longer, but she's so cold. The only thing on her mind is defeating this digimon; it's completely consumed her! _

Jenrya shook his head. "But we're a team! All of us together, we defeated the Devas and stopped D-Reaper from destroying the world. You were with us then, why are you pushing us away now?" 

To his surprise, Kuzuhamon began to laugh. "A team? We were a team when Leomon was killed. We were a team when Takato and Hirokazu were murdered. And what did it accomplish? Nothing! I'm just doing what has to be done." 

"But Takato wasn't-" Juri began.

"Icicle Stunner!" Hekatemon screamed, taking advantage of Kuzuhamon's distraction to launch several jagged icicles from his hands. Unprepared for his surprise assault, Kuzuhamon hurriedly raised her Shadow Sphere, but not before one of the projectiles sliced into her arm. 

"Ahhhhhh!" Kuzuhamon cried out as the wound began to glow with a white light. The icicle had been freezing cold, but burned like acid as it dissolved into her body. 

"You're still alive?" She growled dually at Hekatemon. "Then allow me to remedy the problem." 

"Blazing Wind!" Kuzuhamon shouted sending a shower of black crystals tearing through Hekatemon's already battered body. 

"What's wrong Hekatemon?" Kuzuhamon taunted the injured digimon. "You usually find pain to be so amusing, why aren't you laughing?"

"No! Please stop!" Juri cried covering her eyes in horror. 

_She's gone too far, Jenrya thought fearfully. "Ruki, stop this!" He shouted. _

Kuzuhamon glared at him. "He has inflicted so much pain upon us, I'm only repaying the favor." 

"What he's done to Hirokazu is unforgivable, but you can't do this!" Jenrya argued. "I know you Ruki, you aren't a cruel person." 

  
A wicked smile crossed Kuzuhamon's face. "If you think that I am cruel now, you haven't seen anything yet." She began to raise her staff for the final blow, when an explosion caused the room, to shake, cracking icicles and sending them falling to the floor. 

Jenrya drew Juri close to him, blushing slightly at her nearness._ But it's only to protect her and Culumon, he thought to himself. __Nothing more. Hekatemon folded his tattered wings around himself, while Kuzuhamon was protected within her Shadow Sphere. When the room finally ceased moving, she dissolved her shield and stood waiting, ready to annihilate whoever had interrupted her battle. _

~*~

Takato wasn't sure what to expect when he entered the frozen auditorium. His heat beat wildly in his chest as he pictured the different scenarios that he would be facing. His most feared was that Ruki and the rest of the Tamers, save Ryou, were dead and that he was too late. 

But even he was surprised with what he found. Standing a few feet in front of him was someone who looked like Sakuyamon, pointing her staff directly at him, an expression of fury on her face. 

_It can't be, he thought miserably. __Ruki, what's happened to her? _

Kuzuhamon stared at Takato, her wrathful face becoming uncertain.

"No, it can't be." Ruki's voice whispered as she began to back away. "You're dead!" 

"Ruki?" Takao repeated softly. "How could you…? I don't understand." He stepped forward, but stopped when Kuzuhamon raised her staff threateningly. 

"Stay away from me!" She spat, her rage returning. "Is this some kind of a trick?" She asked, turning to Hekatemon. "Do you think that I'll let you live because you've brought Takato back from the dead or something? Think again. Womb Mand-" 

"Please, listen to me!" Takato cried. "It's me Takato! I'm not sure what happened to you Ruki, but you have to believe me! I'm not dead, a little scratched, but that's all." 

"He's telling the truth." Jenrya added. "Takato was only injured, and Hirokazu," He bowed his head, "We don't know how he is right now."

Kuzuhamon turned back to Takato, staring at him as though she had never seen him before. He stared back, knowing that she was searching within herself, in order to believe him. 

Ruki, it seems highly possible that he is Takato. Renamon said calmly.

Inside her sphere of dark light Ruki sighed. I'm not sure what to believe anymore. 

Takato could feel despair welling up within him. _She doesn't believe me. How can I help her if she won't let me? Wait, what if…_

"Ruki, I know that you're confused right now, but I can prove that I'm Takato and that I'm alive. Do you remember what happened a few days ago, in the park? We met each other and you were mad it me because you thought that I still liked Juri." Takato looked apologetically at the aforementioned Tamer. 

"And I thought that you liked Ryou," Takato continued. "But you told that you didn't and then…you kissed me. Do you remember?"

Is this true Ruki? Renamon inquired quietly. 

Yes. 

"I…I remember." Kuzuhamon began uncertainly. "Takato?" 

~*~

Notes: I know that Ruki may have seemed a bit out-of-character, but that's for a reason. I firmly believe the saying that "revenge taints the soul," and while Ruki has every reason to seek vengeance, it is affecting her. When Takato caused Guilmon to become Megidramon, the situation was similar, but he realized the consequences of his actions before he went too far. 

And to all Ryou fans, I'm sorry that his role is so minute, but since he never was one of the main Tamers until the end of the D-Reaper saga, I didn't even plan upon adding him into the story, at least not in the beginning. 

One final thing, I accidentally used Panjamon's American name, Panjyamon in a previous chapter, which will be corrected. 

Chapter 9- Ruinations: After crossing so far into darkness, can Ruki be brought back by Takato? And Hekatemon plays his final hand against the Tamers, a trap that may end up costing one of them their lives.


	9. Ruinations

**Takato: **How could you do this to Ruki?!

Oh, very easily. Everyone has a dark side and I simply used your "death" to exploit hers. (Vegeta smirk ™) Evil, aren't I? 

**Takato:** Evil? You're-you're horrible!

If you think so now, wait to the end of the chapter. I'm sure many a Rukato fan will be after my blood. 

**Takato: **You better not hurt Ruki anymore, or I'll…

You'll do nothing. Just sit back and hold on. I hope that everyone is in character and that you enjoy the chapter. 

Ruinations

Hekatemon watched the humans, the two holding on to each other, not realizing that they hadn't separated, the one partnered to the red dinosaur digimon, he who Hekatemon had wounded, not maimed. And finally, his eyes lingered hatefully upon Makino Ruki. She, whom he had hunted, tormented and who he planned to kill. 

But instead, she had become some type of demon. Combining with her digimon, she had beaten and battered Hekatemon, leaving him writhing in agony. He knew that he wouldn't survive, and the thought infuriated him. 

_My life. Will be terminated._ He thought furiously. _But, not yet._

As he felt the destruction of his final emissary and saw the bits of his data float into the room, he smiled. He would die, but he would take that whom Makino Ruki cared most about, to oblivion with him. 

Using the residual data of his digimon enforcers, he conjured a jagged icicle that resembled a lance and positioned it behind the human. 

"Takato…" Ruki spoke, still slightly unbelieving that he was standing in front of her. She knew that he wasn't dead, but that he could be before her, reminding her that he cared for her. 

And when a slightly scraped Justimon entered the room behind her looking more injured than usual. Inside her sphere, Ruki couldn't help smirking slightly_. It looks like the Legendary Tamer finally got his butt whipped. _

She planned upon saying what she thought, until she glanced behind Takato and saw, glimmering with pale light, a sharp blade of ice aimed directly at his back. And as Justimon de-evolved to Ryou and Cyberdramon, she was only half listening when he said something half-jokingly about the situation. 

She saw Takato smile, as the icy lance remained disclosed to her eyes-only. 

"Now that Ryou's here, everything is going to be okay." He said firmly. "We're together again, as a team and there's no one who can hurt us." 

_You're wrong Takato._ Ruki thought angrily. _Hekatemon is planning to kill you, but I won't let him!_ Kuzuhamon turned to face the decrepit, frozen digimon, staring into his flaming red eyes. 

We could end this now. Renamon stated calmly. 

One Womb Mandala, and he's finished. Ruki agreed. 

Renamon sighed lightly. But it wouldn't save Takato. We're being tested. Either we destroy Hekatemon, leading to Takato's death or we…

Or we save Takato and let Hekatemon live a little longer. Ruki finished for her. 

Jenrya watched Kuzuhamon, uncertainly. _Something's wrong,_ he thought anxiously. _But what could it be? _

Ruki closed her eyes. I said that our battle with D-Reaper would be our last fight. Looks like I was wrong. I'm sorry Renamon. 

There is no need for an apology. We are partners and more importantly friends. I told you that I would fight by your side, no matter what the consequence. And I meant it. Whether you live or die, I will always remain with you. 

Opening her eyes, Ruki smiled sadly. Thanks. _This is for you Takato. _

"Ruki? Ruki can you hear me?" Takato asked fearfully. 

"Sorry gogglehead." The part of Kuzuhamon that was Ruki answered, smiling slightly. "We still have some unfinished business." 

And as the data-formed lance completely materialized and began to fly, Kuzuhamon forcefully shoved Takato away from her, launching him backwards into Guilmon and sending them both sprawling. 

And then, it happened. As the frozen gateway that detained Rapidmon and Beelzebumon shattered, allowing the Perferct and Ultimate digimon access to the auditorium, a bright light flashed where Takato had been standing, blinding everyone to the sight, but not the sound of Kuzuhamon's sacrifice. 

From within, both Ruki and Renamon let out twin screams of agony as Hekatemon's weapon tore through Kuzuhamon's body. It was like nothing either of them had experienced before, neither at the power mad hands of Beelzebumon, nor the life loathing tentacles of 

D-Reaper. It took only seconds, for the lance to piece through Kuzuhamon's armor, travel through her side and vanish, but for Ruki and Renamon, it was an eternity. An endless amount of mind-numbing pain. 

When the light finally cleared, a horrifying sight greeted the Tamers and their partners. No longer able to stand, Kuzuhamon had been forced to her knees, shuddering violently and clutching a hole through her side, as if to cease the flow of data that continued to escape from it. 

_No, this can't be happening!_ Takato thought astonished. _I was so close to losing Ruki before, I can't lose her now, not like this!_ He painfully got to his feet and ran near Kuzuhamon, feelings of anger, fear and helplessness burning within him. 

"Ruki!" Ryou cried out, ignoring the residual pain that he felt from his and Cyberdramon's battle with Metal Garurumon and running towards Kuzuhamon, standing close to Takato. 

Jenrya could feel Juri shaking in his arms, as together they stared in horror at the mortally injured Kuzuhamon. When Rapidmon landed behind them, instead of a comical or witty quip, the cyborg digimon remained silent, shocked to see, not only Sakuyamon's dark alter ego, but how terribly she was injured. 

Beelzebumon wasn't watching Kuzuhamon, his full attention was focused upon Hekatemon, who, after seeing the glorious twist fate had given him, began to laugh and cackle triumphantly, his body shaking with the force of his glee. 

"Ruki, Renamon," Takato whispered drawing close to Kuzuhamon with Guilmon by his side.

Kuzuhamon gritted her teeth and for a moment, Takato could have sworn he saw tears flow down her cheeks. "Takato, I…"

"You can't give up!" He cut her off excitedly. "You have to fight this! You and Renamon are the strongest people that I know, you can beat this!" 

Ryou watched Takato, his usual hubris absent, with sorrow in its place. Being four years older  than the slightly naïve Tamer and spending enough time with a warrior as fierce as Cyberdramon, he knew that there was no amount of pleading that could make Ruki survive. And as he heard the insane laughter of Hekatemon, he felt anger rise inside his heart.

_This has gone far enough._ Jenrya thought furiously as he watched Takato. _Hirokazu and now Ruki, this madness has to end!_

From within Kuzuhamon, Ruki felt…nothing. And when she noticed an almost transparent flow of ice crawl up her body, she knew why. 

With a final large intake of breath, Kuzuhamon collapsed on her side, her staff clattering as it hit the ground. And as her eyes finally closed, her body, instead of exploding into bits of data, turned completely to ice. 

Where the wrathful embodiment of vengeance had once stood, only a frozen statue remained. 

Takato stared at the frozen digimon, tears flowing down his face. "Ruki!" He shouted, as though saying her name could make the vision before him disappear. But it was to no avail. For a few brief moments, the only sounds in the auditorium were the sounds of Takato screaming Ruki's name and Hekatemon laughing…only laughing…

Chapter 10-May It Be: The Tamers have suffered a great loss at the hands of Hekatemon. But the frigid digimon is about to find out the meaning of true pain, delivered by a Holy Knight, a weapons laden cyborg, a metallic defender and a Demon Lord. The wheel of fate has finally turned.  


	10. May It Be

So this is it, the final chapter. It's been interesting and challenging writing Swiftly Burning Ice, but also very rewarding to receive the positive input from so many wonderful Authors. This final chapter is dedicated to _DigiDestined of Courage,_ whose remarkable encouragement helped me to continue this story. And I would also like to thank: _Flamegaruru, Traveler, Exoduss, Hirokono, Lonewalker, Quantum Ranger, Rukato Fan, Dark Child, Love Star, The Future Queen, Peter Kim, AnT, daisukefire, KevinEC,__Prosopopeia, Digital Sword and Spectrum._ Your reviews have meant so much to me and I'm exceptionally grateful to you all. 

**Beelzebumon:** Are you gonna spend the whole time yappin' or actually get to the point? 

Very funny. The only reason that you're here again is because I had you as a muse when I began to continue this story and wanted consistency. 

**Beelzebumon:** *_sarcastically_* Yeah right. And here I was thinkin' you liked me. 

I do. That's the reason why I've written stories where I push you to your limit mentally and emotionally. I do that to all my favorite characters. Anyway, I hope that everyone is in character and that you enjoy this last chapter and the preview of the sequel, **Into the Darkness: The Demon Saga Part I**

Disclaimer: Digimon is the property of Toei Animation and of Bandai. Hekatemon, Lobomon and Erinyemon belong to me.

May It Be

_"To love someone deeply, gives you strength. Being loved deeply gives you courage."_- **Lao-Tzu**

And then, there was only silence. The laughter had halted, the screaming ceased. The only sound in the lonely room was weeping. 

Clinging tightly to Juri's shoulder, Culumon let out a sniffle. He had been quiet throughout the entire ordeal; the horror of what had happened nearly overwhelmed the small Baby II digimon. 

_That mean digimon hurt Ruki, culu,_ he thought uncomprehendingly. _But why?_ _Now everyone is sad. _

Culumon looked up at Juri, frowning at the tears on her face. He shuddered, remembering the last time he had seen her so upset, the time during which they had been trapped within the D-Reaper and right before…Culumon hugged Juri more tightly. 

_I don't want Juri to be sad. I want Ruki and Renamon to come back, culu. So everyone can be happy again. _

Close by him, the feelings of Beelzebumon were very different. Fury coursed through him, causing him to unconsciously move forward. Though he hadn't really shown it very often, he considered Renamon to be his closest friend. Even when he annoyed her with his taunting and nearly sent her on the road to deletion back in the Digital World, she and Ruki had cared enough to save him from himself. And now, she was gone. Turned into an ice statue courtesy of a frozen freak that had a few screws loose. 

"Wait." Takato uttered solemnly from across the room. The Tamers and Beelzebumon turned to face him, frowns common upon all of their faces. 

_Don't do anything stupid kid,_ Beelzebumon thought anxiously as he saw the look on Takato's face. It was the same unforgiving glare that he himself had received after his absorption of Leomon. His eyes were narrowed and seemed to burn with his rage and his jaw was set. 

"Takato, you're not-" Jenrya began uncertainly. 

"Don't worry." Takato cut him off. "I'm not going to let my anger control me, not this time. We've lost Ruki and I won't let Guilmon become Megidramon again and get hurt because of my selfishness." 

Hekatemon giggled. "Such emotion, such pain over Makino Ruki's sacrifice. Intriguing." 

"'Intriguing?' You hurt our friends and you think it's funny?" Takato spoke slowly. "You're a monster. D-Reaper was terrible and the Devas were only doing what they thought was right, but you have no heart! You've hurt people that had no defense against your power and you've enjoyed it! You've frozen our friends and parts of Shinjuku and now it's time for you to pay! Pay for what you did to Hirokazu, Renamon," His voice wavered slightly. "And to Ruki." 

Jenrya nodded. "That's right. We fight to protect the people that we care about, something that you can never understand. That's why we'll defeat you, together!"   

"Now you're talking!" Ryou added forcefully. Cyberdramon growled in approval. 

Eyes narrowing, Hekatemon flapped his wings sporadically. The delight of Makino Ruki's death had given him a proverbial "second wind," and if he was forced to battle her companions, he knew that he would lose all chance of leaving the area alive. 

"It looks like I'll have to sit this one out." Jenrya stated. "But Rapidmon-"

"Don't worry Jen," His partner answered cocking his missile-seized hands. "I'll give him one for you. No one turns our friends into icicles and gets away with it!" 

"Less talkin' and more action." Beelzebumon said, menacingly clenching his claws. 

Takato looked at Guilmon seriously. "I really need your help Guilmon, but I don't want to force you to evolve and fight if you don't want to." 

Guilmon cocked his head uncomprehendingly. "Ruki and Renamon were our are friends and now they're gone. Of course I'll help you Takato, we're partners and I'll always fight by your side." 

Feeling his eyes well slightly, Takato rubbed them with the back of his hand. "Right, then let's do it." He glanced at Ryou, who had his D-Arc in his hand. 

"I'm way ahead of you." The Legendary Tamer said coolly. 

Juri watched them warily. "Please, be careful." 

Takato nodded solemnly, while Ryou gave the smallest of grins. Then both of them drew their D-Arc's closer. 

Hekatemon snarled as he watched the humans raise their devices. Makino Ruki had done the same thing before she and her partner merged into one being, he couldn't allow that to happen again. 

"Matrix Evolution Activate!" Takato and Ryou shouted simultaneously. The words "Matrix Evolution" appeared on both of their D-Arcs and were spoken monotonously, as red and blue light burst forth. The light immersed the two Tamers as they became data and united with their respective digimon. 

"Guilmon, Matrix Evolve!" Guilmon's reptilian body began to change, as armor replaced his saurian hide. He grew larger, until a humanoid digimon covered in white armor, red cape trailing behind him and shield in one hand and pointed lance replacing the other, stood in his place. 

"Cyberdramon, Matrix Evolve!" The armored dragon's body became lither, as his crimson wings vanished and his armor changed. His silver mask reformed, becoming the only remnant on his blank face. A cybernetic arm, similar to Ryou's gauntlet and red scarf flying behind him, concluded the evolution.  

"Dukemon!" 

"Justimon!" 

With the completion of their transformations, Hekatemon caused the remaining crystals of ice to break, liberating the digimon inside. Several Mojayamon, hair covered and clutching bone clubs, rock solid Golemon, Silphymon, a humanoid and avian hybrid and the arachnids Dokugamon, and Archenmon, all with eyes glowing madness. And with the speed and strength of a demonic flood, they instantly rushed the Tamers.

"This is bad," Juri muttered sadly, as Jenrya stood in front of her, ready to protect her the best he could.  

Dukemon struggled beneath the overpowering grasps of the Golemon. Though they were only on the Adult level, it was their sheer numbers that prevented the Matrix Evolved digimon from rising. 

Despite his weariness, Hekatemon still managed to stand. Though mass amounts of data leaked from his body, the Ultimate digimon would not allow himself to vanish. Flapping his almost non-existent wings, Hekatemon ascended into the air and glared down at the Tamers.

_I have lost,_ he thought furiously. _But with one final stroke, I will destroy those who succeeded in ending my life._ With unexpected speed, Hekatemon swooped down, knocking the digimon that served him aside and hefting the frozen statue that was Kuzuhamon, high into the air. 

From below, Jenrya paled. "No, put her down!" He cried out, knowing it would have no effect. 

Hearing the sound of his voice, Rapidmon glanced upwards. He struggled with the feral Dokugamon, trying to escape her web to help, but it was to no avail. 

Close to him, Beelzebumon was knocked to his knees by Archnemon, who lacked his Ultimate level, but made up for it with cunning and guile.

"Going somewhere handsome?" She cooed as she smashed her massive bulk into his chest, causing him to fall backwards cursing. 

"Trinity Arm!" Justimon shouted, sending a blast of light to eliminate the Mojyamon that had assailed him, only to be slammed into a wall by a Silphymon's "Dual Sonic" attack. 

"Royal Saber!" Dukemon roared, bolts of lightning flying from his lance and striking the Golemon, reducing them to data instantly. Finally able to stand, he was ready to aide Rapidmon, but the sound of Juri calling his name drew his attention. 

"Takato!" Juri yelled, "You have to help Ruki!"

From within his sphere of crimson light, Takato was alarmed. _He already froze Ruki and Renamon, what more can he do to them?   _

The sound of breaking glass and the sight of icicles falling and shattering on the ground alerted everyone to Hekatemon going through the roof of the building, with Kuzuhamon still in his arms. 

"Death has come for you Makino Ruki!" He shrieked insanely, flying high into the sky. "Death has come!" He laboriously raised Kuzuhamon over his head, preparing to release his hold and send her toppling to the ground.

Dukemon's golden eyes widened with horror and taking a running start, he leaped into the air. 

Guilmon, we can't reach her! Takato spoke dejectedly as they began to fall. 

We really need wings Takato. His partner replied. 

_Wings._ The thought made Takato's heart beat faster. _If we had wings…_

_"I can give you wings Dukemon…"_ Grani had spoke before merging with him. 

_Grani. You sacrificed your life to save us, but now we need you more than ever. Please, we need your wings._

And with that thought, an ethereal glow surrounded the plummeting Dukemon. It caused Hekatemon to narrow his eyes against its holy burn and made his digimon servants scream in pain. Once the light dimmed, the Tamers looked in shock at the new arrival. 

He was covered in armor, like Dukemon, but unlike him, the armor was red with golden accents. Ten shining white wings flapped behind him, sending him upward, while a double-edged, golden lance rested tightly in his hands. 

"Whoa," Rapidmon spoke appraisingly. "Now that's what I call a Mode Change. Unlike _some _digimon who just grew wings and got contacts." 

Giving him a dirty look, Beelzebumon charged up his Darkness Claw, ready to send it into Archnemon's chest. 

Jenrya couldn't help but stare. "That's…incredible." 

Juri nodded mutely, still shocked at the transformation. 

"Oooh, pretty!" Culumon giggled from his position on her shoulder. 

Even Ryou, couldn't help grinning from inside his sphere of cerulean light. "Not bad." Justimon added. 

As Dukemon Crimson Mode rose to meet him, Hekatemon glowered at him furiously_. A new form, most unexpected,_ he mused fearfully. But feeling his energy nearly spent, he released Kuzuhamon and prepared to vanish. 

"This ends, now!" Dukemon roared in the voices of Takato and Guilmon, catching Kuzuhamon and holding her tightly. "For all those you've hurt, all those who have suffered because of you…" He shifted Kuzuhamon in his arms and raised his lance.

"Now, with one final blow, fall into hell!" From the top of the lance, a golden light began to shine, becoming more luminous by the second. 

"Quo Vidas!" The light was launched at Hekatemon, who moved backwards in avoidance. But even that attempt couldn't save him. With a horrific scream, he was enveloped within the blinding light, his already wretched form reduced to miniscule bits of data, then vanishing completely. 

"It's over." Dukemon said sighing. But he nearly cried out in surprise when he felt movement occur in his arms. Holding Kuzuhamon closer, he watched as pinprick cracks bloomed upon her body. And when the ice finally shattered, he felt as if everything had stopped. 

"What the-" Kuzuhamon sputtered, strangely alert. She glanced upward, ready to face anything. 

From within Dukemon, Takato smiled. "Ruki, you're alive!" 

Kuzuhamon stared at him with slight surprise and Ruki rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm alive. Did you really think that some frozen freak with a case of fanboy worship would stop us?" 

Shaking his head, Takato couldn't help but laugh. "No, I guess not." 

The pair descended slightly and once they were directly over the Yashimoto building Dukemon hesitated. 

"Something's wrong." He muttered with Guilmon's voice. 

And when the image of Lee Janyuu appeared inside of his sphere, Takato nearly jumped. 

"Takato, thank goodness I was able to reach you. We're only lucky that this satellite was still operational." 

"Something weird is happening, sir." Takato responded. 

"Listen to me Takato, you all must leave the building immediately! Without the presence of the digimon to equate the Real and Digital Worlds, the balance between them has been severely thrown out of whack. The Yashimoto building can't handle the dimensional pressure and is collapsing as  a result." 

As if to collaborate his words, the Yashimoto building's shuddering doubled in pitch. Inside of it, Hekatemon's servants shattered into data, then disappeared. The image of Janyuu abruptly vanished, leaving Takato and Guilmon by themselves. 

Standing quickly, Beelzebumon moved closer to Juri and Jenrya, using his large wings to shield the three of them from the jagged icicles. 

"I guess the party's over." Rapidmon exclaimed knocking away a sliver of ice. 

"Really? Ya think?" Beelzebumon retorted. 

Dukemon and Kuzuhamon floated overhead, easily dodging the falling projectiles. 

"We have to get out of here!" Takato yelled over the roar of the building. "The building is about to cave in!" 

De-evolving quickly, Justimon separated into Ryou and Cyberdramon, who took his partner with surprising gentleness, into his claws and began beating his tattered wings in preparation for flight. 

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Rapidmon fired his jets and flew over to his partner. 

De-evolving to Terriermon, the dog digimon smirked. "C'mon Jen, the last thing we need is to be buried alive. Having a giant spider try to eat me was enough fun for one day." 

His partner smiled back at him. _This day has been terrible, but I wouldn't trade having you back for anything in the world._ "Let's go." He spoke aloud, clutching his D-Arc tightly. "Matrix Evolution Activate!" 

"Matrix Evolution." The words appeared and were spoken, as an emerald light exploded from Jenrya's D-Arc, encasing him and Terriermon, while his body changed into data and merged with his partner. "Terriermon, Matrix Evolve!" 

The light encased form grew larger and larger, nearly filling the entire building. His head was of the canine variation, his body covered in green armor and two large missile launchers, sat upon his shoulders. "SaintGalgomon!" 

Using one of his enormous hands, SaintGalgomon scooped up Juri, and with a surge of his rockets, flew upwards, through the already decimated roof. 

Cyberdramon and Beelzebumon, followed behind them, as the floor dropped out below.

"Need a lift?" Dukemon inquired half-jokingly.  

Kuzuhamon considered for a moment, then nodded. "Very well." She spoke in Renamon's voice and shifting into a more comfortable position. "Just don't get used to it." Ruki added. 

"Hey, are you two going to hover there all night?" Ryou shouted to the pair. 

"Maybe we should leave them alone." Terriermon suggested deviously.

"Terriermon, remember when we discussed your problem with tact?" Jenrya asked wearily. 

"Momentai Jen, I don't even know the meaning of the word."  

  
That caused everyone around SaintGalgomon to sweatdrop. 

"I know, that's the problem." 

Dukemon took the opportunity to rise into the air, carrying a seething Kuzuhamon with him. 

"One more comment like that and you'll wish that Dokugamon _had_ eaten you." She hissed angrily. 

The building gave a final shudder, leaving an enormous heap of rubble in its place. All of the ice near it faded, returning the areas it touched to their original form. 

The police and Special Forces finally reached the ruined building, while the victorious Tamers and Beelzebumon flew overhead and into the night. 

~*~

The first thing that Hirokazu saw as he opened his eyes the next morning, were the happy visages of Kenta and his small, pink fairy digimon, MarineAngemon. 

"Hey," Kenta spoke smiling. 

"Pipi pii!" MarineAngemon piped up in greeting. 

Hirokazu grinned slightly. "Hey yourself. Did you bring it?"

That evening had been especially draining for him, waking up from what seemed a long nap to find his mother crying and his father yelping and Guardromon leaning against the wall. After giving his mother what she called, "the fright of her life," he had spent the rest of the night undergoing all types of tests in order to explain his "miraculous" recovery. 

Kenta had been unable to visit him, but managed to get a message to him by the departing Guardromon. The hospital staff had already complained about Lopmon, though the Child digimon rarely spoke, and the sight of a large robot in Hirokazu's room had sent Dr. Kinomoto away screaming.

"Do you have to ask?" Kenta replied as he reached into a large bag and extracted a piece of Guilmon bread and several pieces of pocky. 

Sitting up in his bed, Hirokazu greedily reached for the food. "Thanks. With the food they serve around here, it's almost like they don't want you to leave."

Kenta leaned back in his chair and watched his friend eat, the doubtful feelings from the night before returned in full force. 

"So, what happened?" Hirokazu asked between munches. "You're not going to leave me hanging are you?" 

Snapping out of his distraction, Kenta relayed everything that Takato had told him the night before, when he along with his, Ruki, Jenrya and Takato's parents all arrived at Shinjuku Park, courtesy of Yamaki, to meet them.

His only interruption was the occasional "Pipi, pipi!" Listening closely, Hirokazu couldn't help but smile at the mention of Takato's Mode Change. 

"Dukemon Crimson Mode? I knew Takato had it in him. And rescuing The Digimon Queen, what more can a guy ask for?" 

"Yeah." Kenta agreed halfheartedly. "What more?" 

MarineAngemon flew to Kenta's shoulder and rubbed his head against his partner's. 

Raising an eyebrow, Hirokazu stared at his friend. "Hey, you're not still all hung up about what happened in the park are you?" He questioned. "Because it'd be really dumb to think that what happened to me is your fault." 

"But it was!" Kenta responded loudly. "If I hadn't left you, you wouldn't have ended up the way you did."

"Yeah, but if you hadn't, you would have ended up just like me. And if you hadn't gotten Takato, I might have been completely frozen instead of halfway." Noticing that Kenta was ready to protest, he quickly continued. "Anyway, I'm okay, Ruki's okay and I owe you one." 

Kenta sighed. "I guess you're right." 

Hirokazu smiled. "Definitely. So Takato and Ruki, that gives me an idea-" But whatever he planned to say was cut off when Kenta shoved the remaining Guilmon bread into his mouth. 

"Why don't we let them work things out by themselves." Kenta said cautiously. "I'd rather take on ten Hekatemons then The Digimon Queen any day." 

Making a face behind the bread, Hirokazu couldn't help but laugh inwardly. _Being frozen was pretty rough, but with Guardromon, Kenta, Takato and the others behind me, I'm not afraid of anything._ But when the images of Ms. Asunama, his mother and Makino Ruki, The Digital Queen herself entered his mind, Hirokazu's face faded. 

_Well, almost anything. _

~*~

Yamaki stared out his office window, clicking his lighter cover open and shut absently. He'd gotten little, to no sleep that night; or rather morning prior and the situation itself had given him a bad feeling. 

Hypnos had returned to its normal hustle and bustle, at that moment Reika and Megumi were scanning the grid for any signs of digimon activity. He knew he should have been pleased, his assumptions had been proven correct after all, but he wasn't.

The sight of the Heads of Hypnos, some men even he had never been acquainted with, entering the building early that morning had knocked the idea of smugness completely out of his mind. And hearing them mutter about "Operation: Dark Days," a protocol he'd never heard before put him even more on edge. Whatever was happening, he hated being in the dark about it. 

The Makino girl's return, the recovery of Shiota Hirokazu and the destruction of the rouge digimon had improved his mood slightly, but the discovery made afterwards simply lowered it again.  

When Shibumi had failed to make an appearance, even after the prior night's events, Janyuu and the rest of the Monster Makers had headed to his last known apartment, only to find it torn apart, furniture strewn, and blood and what looked like animal tracks covering the floor. 

The police had then been called in, but Yamaki had enough intuition to know that it was too late. Whoever had broken into Shibumi's apartment had taken him, leaving no real clues behind. 

_After the rouge digimon was annihilated, they thought that it was over,_ Yamaki mused. _But what if it isn't? What if it, whatever it may be, has only just begun? _

~*~

Leaning against wall of her home, Ruki released a breath she didn't know she was holding. After everything that had happened, including a long, reluctant, explanation of how she and Renamon had become Kuzuhamon and her mother's reaction, Ruki had just about had enough. 

It was only after Seiko's assurances that Ruki wouldn't "disappear into the night," and several meaningful glances, did Rumiko let her daughter out of her sight. 

Last night had been extremely exhausting for everyone involved. Hirokazu's body had finally thawed out and rejoined the rest of the world, but whether or not his brain accompanied him well, that was another story. 

Jenrya and his father had engaged in serious discussion and judging by the seriousness blatant upon both their faces, whatever they were talking about couldn't be good.

Tadashi had come for his daughter, then looked slightly unnerved when Culumon cheerfully talked about, "the bad lion that tried to eat us, but we were saved by Beelzebumon, culu!" At that point, the Demon Lord slowly moved away from the group, then looked close to fainting when Kenta's mother said he reminded her of someone she had once dated. "He didn't have three eyes, or wings or a tail, that would have been silly. But he was a biker, and goodness could he ride!" 

Several coughs and "Moms!" later, Ai and Makoto made their presence known by shrieking out the name Impmon, which lead Beelzebumon to de-evolve and nearly be crushed in a double hug. They had come from being out of town after seeing the news, which showed the ice expanding over Shinjuku. 

But it was the reunion between Takato and his parents that had been the most emotional. It had been crying on all sides, even Guilmon who had no idea why he was crying and vocalized as such.  

But despite the overt emotional displays, Ruki was happy to be home. Sure her mother and at times most of the population, had a tendency to annoy her at times, at least she had them. And as long as Renamon was with her, she could handle things. She could sense her partner close by, waiting and watching over her…

"Hey Ruki!" Takato called, his cheerful voice suddenly cutting into her thought process. 

Opening her eyes reluctantly, Ruki glanced at the goggled Tamer, who held a large bag in each hand. 

"What are you doing here goggle-head?" Questioned Ruki. 

Takato suddenly looked very nervous. "We didn't really get to talk a lot last night and I wanted to apologize-plus my parents made a ton of Guilmon bread and I wanted to bring you some." 

Ruki looked behind him "Where is dino-boy anyway?" 

Laughing slightly, Takato moved closer. "He's at the bakery. Dad and Mom have been feeding him all sorts of things and he's happy just to eat it. Where's Renamon?"  
  


"She's around." Ruki replied coolly.

They fell into an uncomfortable silence. A silence that was finally broken by Takato's speaking. 

"Yesterday was an accident." Takato began slowly. "I didn't want to go to the park without telling you, but when I called your house, your grandmother said that you couldn't talk." 

Ruki listened closely. She remembered her grandmother telling her about the phone call-it had been the reason she had gone to the park in the first place.

"And what happened with Juri-" Takato began to blush again. "It wasn't…it wasn't what it looked like. I didn't want to hurt Juri or you, but I just couldn't…I'm sorry." He lowered his eyes.   

"Fine, I accept your apology." Ruki responded brusquely. Even though she knew what had happened, she was more than happy not to bring it up again. 

"Is that all?" She asked pointedly. 

"Well," Takato squirmed slightly under her firm gaze. "There was one more thing I wanted to do." 

Ruki rolled her eyes. "And that was…" 

_Here goes,_ Takato thought fearfully. "Just this." And then he did something Ruki never expected. Leaning towards her, he planted the gentlest of kisses on her lips and then pulled away, blushing furiously. 

Ruki stared at him a moment, still trying to process what had just happened. If anyone else had tried something like that, she would have made sure they would have to have their teeth extracted from their trachea, but she didn't feel like hurting Takato.

"Ruki?" Takato watched her carefully, feeling more than a little unsure. He halfway expected her to hit him, she had threatened much worse when he informed her of the dream he had had about her.

But his worry melted away when he saw Ruki smile faintly. "You're lucky I like you goggle-head. Otherwise, you'd be wearing your teeth right about now." 

And on that day, in the company of the girl he loved, Matsuda Takato finally smiled.  

~The End~

~*~

From the roof of the Tokyo Towers, two figures stood looking down upon the city. They were of nearly the same height, though the pointy ears of the male gave him a slight advantage. 

"Hekatemon was a failure." The male spoke, his voice a raspy growl. "Aside from jeopardizing our plans with his ludicrous quest for vengeance, he failed to accomplish his objective." 

A female voice laughed gleefully. "Did you expect anything less? Really Lobomon, I think you're being too hard on the poor fool." She laughed even harder. 

Lobomon glared at his counterpart. "Only you would find this situation amusing Erinyemon. Need I remind you of the consequences that would have befallen us, if Hekatemon _had_ carried out his revenge? Or perhaps you have forgotten what is at stake." 

"I haven't forgotten anything." Erinyemon replied cheerfully. "But look at them." She stretched her clawed hands outward. "Pathetic humans scurrying about their meaningless little lives, completely unaware of what's happening around them. So Hekatemon was a moron, he proved to be a good distraction to the Tamers and allowed us to obtain what we needed. Don't be such a killjoy." 

Remaining silent for a moment, Lobomon snorted rudely. "Hekatemon served his purpose, but he was still an imbecile. His demise was hardly unprecedented."

"And it's only the beginning." Erinyemon purred. "The rebirth of Demon shall commence and the world will burn. The blood and data of humans and digimon alike will flood the lands and the black wings of darkness shall blot out all light. The reign of Demon will soon begin." 

"As will the slaughter of those foolish enough to oppose him." Lobomon concluded. 

Erinyemon smiled evilly. "Slaughter, death, pain. I can't think of a better way to end the rules of the Sovereigns and the humans. Ice is far too quick, but fire…" A small ball of red flames appeared in her hand. "Fire brings many more delicious screams, especially when the body slowly begins to char and blacken…" 

Lobomon rolled his eyes. "Your obsession with fire is irritating." He snarled, as his body began to fade from sight. 

"But it's so much fun! Like all torture. And I'm sure that the Tamers will think so too." Erinyemon responded, as she too vanished into nothingness… 

~*~

Note2: The line, "With one final blow, fall into hell," was used in the Japanese version of Tamers, spoken by Takato when he was about to delete Beelzebumon. It was one of my favorite lines throughout the series and I felt it was appropriate for the situtation. "Lobo" is Spanish for wolf. The word "Erinyes" is another name for the Furies, Greek deities that were agents of justice, who sought out, administered and oversaw the torments of mortals within the underworld.    
  



End file.
